Hawkeyed and Crosseyed
by Sweey
Summary: Allison Silver aka Meta Girl, has been given a test from her mentor, Sir Meta Knight. She has to survive deep in Whispy Woods for at least a week. There's something unnerving about the place and soon, she discovers that she really isn't alone- a stranger.
1. The Tactical Test

Sweey:_** HULLO EVERYBODDAH! :3 NO this is not the sequel to Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger. Anyways, this story is based off of my dear friend Crispy Pink's story Meta Girl. I will be writing in Allison Silver's point of view (or Meta Girl) and well... the point of this story... heh you'll find out soon enough. ;D I'm typing with a crappy keyboard so be generous with reading my typos... if there happen to be any. ;3 **_

**Chapter One: The Tactical Test**

Sir Meta Knight and I had been walking through Whispy Woods for nearly three hours. I was blindfolded. Why? To be honest I had no clue but I'd soon find out. I felt him nudge me to stop and soon I could see the thick of the forest around me as his mitten-clad hands lifted off the blindfold. Meta Knight's gold eyes flickered blue and I couldn't help but wonder what this was all about.

In answer to my question, Meta spoke, "This is the time to test your survival skills that we've been working on for the past few weeks or so. Basically all you need to do is thrive in these woods for a week. I've got a tracking device on you in case you get lost or find yourself in a near death situation. _Near _death and only then, got it?"

I nodded, "I understand, my mission is to live in the woods for a week. Can't be too hard..." My voice trailed off as I scanned the trees. I'd never been this deep in the woods before. It was dark, intimidating, and there were few pleasant things to look at. I looked nervously at my mentor.

He grinned wolfishly beneath his mask, "Don't worry, in these wood, you're never alone." With those unhelpful words, he dashed to the side and darted up, breaking through the trees and into the hidden sky above, abandoning me in the wood. Okay... not abandoning, well, yes abandoning. He was abandoning me here but it was my mission to thrive here, in these dark... scary... tree-infested woodland.

"It's not so bad," I murmured to myself, "It's not paradise but it's not the slums either." I looked around briefly as I hadn't moved from the spot I had been in since Meta Knight left. "Which way now?" I asked no one in particular. I finally resided to start walking and a I took my time, I pulled out one of the two daggers that Sir Meta Knight had lent to me just before we left.

Both were simple and identical, their entire length just short of my forearm and their blades were sharp and well polished. I slid the dagger back into its sheath on my belt and simply continued trekking through the woods.

Then I heard footsteps, two pair, behind me.

I whirled around pulling out one of the daggers only to see a glimpse of a doe leap over a nearby log and into a thicket that took it out of sight.

My pulse had quickened and it took me a moment to calm my nerves before I began to walk onward through the dense forest.

It wasn't long afterwards that I heard the relieving sound of running water. My ears led my feet to a small grove in which a fresh spring supplied cool waters to a stream. It was the ideal place for a camp. Immediately I crouched down and took several drafts of the icy, clear liquid and shivered with delight as it trickled down my throat.

I looked around finding a small cave that had formed wide around the mouth of the spring. The bank crept into it and there was enough light to make me comfortable while entering. It was dry enough and had plenty of space enough to provide an excellent shelter while I stayed here.

Of course, it did need some touching up.

So I set to work, gathering some long grass and huge, wide leaves, weaving them to make a sturdy hammock which I hung, securing each side on two stalagmites that grew like mini mountain from the floor of the cave. After that I scaled the surrounding terrain in search for firewood and made a neat stack as well as a pile waiting to be burned. With my bed made and fire pit prepared it was now time to get some food.

There was no way I'd be hunting so off to forage I went.

Heading back out, I walked within earshot of the spring as I searched the surrounding area for food. Fortunately and to my delight, I found some blue berries and carefully picked them from the thorny bush. I gathered them in the bright, red sash which Meta Knight had blindfolded me with.

Suddenly, a loud, but brief smacking sound reached my ears, causing me to jolt forward. It sounded like a rock had hit a tree.

"What in the Universe?" I borrowed a phrase from my friends of Dreamland.

Tying the berry-filled sash to my belt, I went toward the sound that had caught my attention enough for me to further investigate.

_THUNK!_

It happened again and so suddenly this time that I jumped slightly. With nerves shaken, I progressed closer to the source of the sound. Then without warning, the sound erupted into what sounded like a hundred rocks hitting the trees. Instinctively, I ducked for cover as another wave of the sound echoed through the forest.

_Smack~Thunk~WHACK~Th-thwink~Thunk~Bam~Smack~THWACK!_

My eyes widened as they were dazzled by a cloud of arrows that flew to a grove of scattered tree and dispersed perfectly onto the center of each of the various targets perched upon them. I counted quietly to myself, "1, 2, 3, ...12, 13, 14, 15... 21, 22, 23, 24!" At that point I stopped knowing well that over two dozen arrows had been shot in a matter of seconds. That could only mean that, I paused in thought to make the calculations, nearly six archers -if well trained- had shot! Perhaps more than just that... or perhaps less...

Did Sir Meta Knight know about this? Or were they working for N.M.E.? According to the accuracy of their shots it could be quite possible that they were indeed Demon Beasts, but I had to be sure.

Stepping as quietly as I could with my heeled boots, I moved from one patch of cover to the next until I found myself concealed in a thicket, looking up just inches from one of the targets.

With no warning other than a brief _HISS_ of the arrows flight through the air, another flock of arrows was released into the air and came and collided into the army of trees that stood in the path of their flight nearly causing me to explode out of cover.

My pulse quickened and my stomach twisted into knots of tangled and panicked fear as the figure of a man emerged from the forest. He was tall and broad in shoulder with a deep hood cast over his head, concealing most of his face in shadow. His jaw was flecked with a stubbly, brown beard and a few locks of rich, dark locks of hair dangled from the shadows of the hood. Leather straps were wrapped around his waist in the fashion similar to a bandage for a wound. His cloths were earthy and the cloak he wore was threadbare and weather-stained. The more I looked at him the more difficult I found it to follow his shifting, shadowy figure as he stepped closer to the targets to retrieve the arrows. It was like he was one with the forest.

I froze as he made his way gradually closer to the target nearest to where I sat concealed in the bushes. When he finally arrived he plucked the arrow from the target like it was no more difficult than picking a flower, despite the fact that the arrow had driven past the wooden target, pierced the bark that armored the tree beneath it, and continued on a few inches more before finally ceasing.

"Not a bad shot," he murmured thoughtfully, "What do you think?"

**Sweey: ****_A relatively short chapter, but a good one nonetheless. I think I'll finish this one (which won't be more than 5-6 chapters at max) before continuing on with both of the sequels (The Life of a Star Warrior and Clashing Colors). So, I hope this was a pleasant read. I'm rather enjoying first person and Allison is really fun to write. :3 If you enjoyed this go read Crispy Pink's story Meta Girl. In fact, don't stop there, read ALL her stories! hahaha X3 Hope you liked it! And I'm sure you know who this fellow is and for the record, he's human in this story... as he originated. ;) DON'T SPOIL IT FOR OTHER READERS but REVIEW please! :D_**


	2. The Wanderer of the Forest

**Sweey: **_**Why hello everybody! It's been a while since I've updated anything. Wondering why? Well, I've been working on a graphic novel, which you can see in my Deviantart account. Anywho, I didn't have time to really put anything together for my two major stories and this one was begging for an update, so, here you have it! Enjoy! OH! I almost forgot, you'll be introduced to something very new but something that will be taking place more later. You'll understand when we reach that point. :D Go R&R! (I'm still writing in Allison's point of view)**_

**Wanderer of the Forest**

My eyes widened as he spoke the words to me. I watched as he examined the emerald tip of one of the arrows, then in my own confusion I watched as he simply walked away.

An elaborate, green hawk with sky-blue feathers on its underside flew down from a branch and perched on the stranger's shoulder.

"Wo, yaiw in ai voair haon or did I hawinain vanyan airroyaian asain?" he muttered to the bird.

Squawking loudly in reply, the bird fluttered to his other shoulder.

The stranger laughed softly, "I haiv van wvandey nu nimn ailon in nha yaudian! I aimn nailey no ai vird!"

I blinked several times and tried to listen harder. I kept catching words that I understood but the rest were just a mindless jumble of syllables. In truth, his tongue was beautiful, silvery silk to my ears. Never in my life had I heard such a blissful language.

After that he vanished among the trees and I heard nothing more from him. For a long while I stayed crouched there, not sure if I should reveal myself just yet.

With newfound confidence, I leapt from my hiding spot only to find that he was no where to be found.

Puzzled and shocked, I decided to return to my shelter as the light of the already dark forest began to grow dimmer.

My footsteps brought me to a troubling scene when I arrived back to my camp. There were at least half a dozen rugged looking cappies all gathered around it.

One of them with a crazy, red beard caught sight of me before I could take cover, "Hey look there boys! Look who's come to party!"

Another one with an ugly shirt then added, "Looks like Meta Knight's little sidekick!"

I froze as their weapons were pointed at me and I thought of the little daggers that rested at my sides. Slowly, I slid my hand to their place.

"Don't even think about it lil' lady," the largest of them said. He had a nasty scar on his bald head and massive spear. "Where's your mentor, mm? Has he abandoned you? We saw him leave you here on your own."

My brows drew together beneath my mask. "Don't cross my path. You better leave me alone!"

"And then what is your plan, to dice us with those pitiful knives at your waist?" He let out a grunt, "In my opinion, it looks like you got those out of your mama's kitchen!" As he laughed he swung his spear and cut my arm. It was a deep, clean cut, but nothing severe. Obviously he'd taken to sharpening the blade which was rare for an A-typical bandit. That didn't mean at all that it was painless.

"I think we'll have a little fun with this here girl, eh boys?" He stepped closer, closing the uncomfortable gap between us. My pulse quickened as he drew nearer to me.

Suddenly he fell back as something green whizzed passed both of us. I myself felt a soft, feathery feeling kiss my cheek as the wind torpedoed past me. The bandit let out a shallow cry of pain and there was a nauseating crack as he landed on the ground. His men pulled him to his feet, revealing that a stick had been the voice of the cracking sound and a deep gash had been painted on his cheek. Blood slid down his cheek, the streaks of tears racing the stripes of blood as they battle to drip from his face to the ground first. His face was that of a very shocked cappy with eyes yawning and yellow body trembling.

"What- what happened?" he finally demanded after a moment to waste while standing there shaking.

Then a deep, silky voice growled, poured from the shadows that fell like curtains over the surrounding trees, allowing the owner of the voice a haven from the fullness of the moonlight that flooded the small grove where the creek swept from.

"Leave this place… or I might get angry."

This voice demanded respect and immediate obedience. Whether they'd comply was entirely up to the bandits. Little did they know that the owner of the voice was not very patient… nor very tolerable of the likes of them.

"Drop your spear fool or next time my arrow will not graze your cheek," the voice growled, I could hear the irritation growing evidently in the stranger's voice.

"Look here sir, who do you think you are tellin' me what to do?" the leader of the gang demanded.

"Someone you should be wary of. Someone you know well, Herod," the voice replied, snickering softly at the expression on the bandit's face when his name was mentioned.

Immediately Herod paled and he and his fellow bandits began to tremble with growing fear, "S-Stranger, w-what do you w-want?"

An amused chuckle escaped from the shadows, "I wish for you and your men to drop those sharpened sticks you call weapons and then I want you to creep all the way over to the chief's jailhouse there where you can cower from me enduringly." He casually went on, "Though, I am almost positive you will not be going down without a fight, am I right? Before we cause another bloody Armageddon I would like to point out one thing. I have well over the amount of arrows I need to completely tear you and your men apart in a matter of seconds, doing it all with just the flick of my wrist. First, I will blind you, shooting out both of your eyes- if you doubt me, I will gladly demonstrate- then, I shall leave you here to starve to death. How does that suit you and your men?"

Now I recognized the voice, it was the man I'd seen not but a few moments before in the woods. I glared in his direction; there was no telling if this guy was really helping me. He could be worse than the bandits. Perhaps he was an assassin or overlord or something.

Shaken with fear the six bandit cappies dropped their sorry excuses for weapons on the ground with a clatter before they dashed away like madmen, at first not wanting to turn their backs on him until they reached the cover of the trees.

I heard nothing more after that, only the wind. Then, the voice spoke again, this time to me alone.

"Retrieve my arrow… Allison," he whispered from directly behind me.

I cringed in fear, how did he know my name?

"Get it now, girl."

Slowly, I extended a trembling hand and pulled the arrow free of its crater in the face of a tree, discovering that the flash of green had been the result of the moonlight glimmering on its emerald tip as it flew through the open grove.

"Now place it in my hand," the voice said as a hand clad in a black, leather glove with the fingers naked. His middle finger was adorned by a ring of silver and brass with black jewels forming the eye of a strange flower. The hand extended from veil of shadows and was illuminated by the full moon's silvery light.

I handed it to him and instead of snatching it from me, he took it gently before slipping his hand leisurely back into the shadows that consumed him.

"Who are you?" I managed to ask after a time of silence. I wasn't even sure if he was still there, I could only hope.

"You are injured."

I blinked a few times, "Excuse me?"

He appeared suddenly before me and firmly took hold of me, placing a hand on my side. I pulled away and unsheathed one of the two knives, slashing it across his chest. Instead of pulling away like I had expected him to he gripped both my hands with brutal strength and I dropped the knife from my grip. I flinched as one of his hands dashed and unsheathed the other from my belt. In a blinding motion he flicked out a knife from seemingly nowhere and held it closely to my throat.

"Do _not_ strike unless you know precisely who your true adversary is," he growled and I watched as a darkened blotch of crimson grew across his chest from the slash my knife had delivered, "That is your first lesson to learn from me."

I thought honestly he was going to kill me as the bitterness of the knife slid across my throat, but instead, he had used the flat of the blade before sheathing it back in the shadow of his cloak. Then his hand slipped to that spot, causing me great discomfort as he fingered at my side.

"What are you doing," I snapped.

His hidden gaze shifted until I felt it upon my own eyes from where he'd been looking at who knows what.

"You have been injured on your torso," he said briefly as he urged me to go take a seat on a nearby rock, taking my knives with him.

"But I'm not hurt!" I said in frustration. He said nothing and walked away.

He then set to work on making a fire. I watched him, feeling a little guilty for the wound I gave him across his chest. My guilt increased as drops of blood fell from the clean cut of my knife to the dirt below as he leaned over to striking two rocks to light the fire.

When the fire finally sparked to life, I got a brief glimpse of his face and blushed. He was considerably hansom, with glittering green eyes and a stubbly shadow-of-a-beard. The air around him brought about a since of desolation and dourness about him, as though he had gone in the course of many dreadful trials during his lifetime, which could not have been very long for he was youthful. Of course, I saw little else before he turned away from the licking flames and the shadows crept into the yawning hood he wore concealing his features. Then I couldn't muster up the picture in memory of his face again and curiosity gnawed at my mind growing as he stepped toward me.

"Let me see your side," he said softly. As he reached gently studying the wound he pulled back his hand which was alarmingly covered with blood and to my shock he laughed.

"What's so funny!" I snarled and he lifted his hand up to my nose. "Does this smell familiar?"

It did.

"Blueberries…" I muttered then giggled in my amusement, joined in by the stranger's soft chuckle.

"Your arm though I know has truly been wounded," he said gravely to me as his hands tenderly held up my arm. "Mm, it is fairly deep. I will be present again in a moment."

With those words he dropped my knives at my feet and vanished in the swirl of shadows that draped over the trees.

Minutes passed that seemed like hours as I sat there. Every noise brought fear to me and I held my knives close. More than once I saw a pair of glowing eyes reflecting in the fire and growls of various animals.

As I scanned the forest again I caught sight of a large black shape in the moonlight. A low growl emitted from the creature and it paced in front of me several times staying well out of reach of the flame's light where I dwelled, as if trying to decide whether to eat me now or later. I realized then that this creature was a wolf and that this wolf was not one, but many as more of the black shapes crept from the forest.

My gaze shifted to the place where the stranger had disappeared to, "Where is he?"

The growling escalated as the figures of the canines multiplied. I shook with fear knowing well this could be my end.

One of the wolves howled and without warning another dashed forward. I opened my mouth to scream but found I could not muster up the strength it required.

Then the discrete sound arose as an arrow slicing through the wind followed by a smack and a yelp. I stared wide-eyed at the beast that lay just a few feet away from where I sat.

"Did Sir Meta Knight not teach you a thing about this place?" the voice of the stranger came angrily to me as his silhouette moved toward me. In his hand was a large bag which he had skimmed off of his shoulder.

Sighing with frustration he dropped the bag then grabbed a torch and ran at the dozen or so wolves raising his arms and roaring at them. It wasn't long that the wolves realized that this man was a monster and dashed away with tails between their scurrying legs.

The stranger snorted and he got to work, setting a pot over the fire and filling it with water to boil. He motioned me over and I complied.

It didn't take long for the water to boil and he pulled out a rag and dropped it in then took it out and let it cool for a moment before applying it to the cut in my arm. I sat awkwardly when I noticed he had yet to wrap his own wound but was more concerned for me than himself. As we sat together in the silence I grasped that I still didn't know his name.

"Stranger, what is your name?" I asked finally.

He didn't even glance up at me, "You already know my name."

I cocked my head, "I've never met you before once in my life until now. I can't possibly know your name, stranger."

"Despite that," he began, "You seem to know me quite well."

I frowned, "Stranger, I've no clue as to what your name is!"

"Ah, but my lady, you have already spoken it thrice," he said grinning wolfishly.

My cheeks blushed bright red, "Your name is… Stranger?"

He nodded fleetingly and I winced as he began inserting the salve to my wound. After he finished he wrapped it gently in strips of white gauze and smiled at me as he regained his feet.

"Have you eaten yet?"

I shook my head and he sniffed, "Well, that's good, wouldn't want this to go to waste!" As he spoke he pulled out a large pheasant out of the bag and plopped it into my lap.

"Take all the feathers out. By that time, I'll have this wound of mine wrapped nicely. You could say this is my revenge," he smiled jokingly before taking a seat by the fire. I grinned at him and began to do what he said and pulled out the feathers of the bird.

After working a few moments at this I glanced up at him and felt color rise to my cheeks. He had the leather straps unwrapped that swathed around his torso and had stripped the shirt that lay beneath it. His body was muscled and carved. Back at home, only actors had such cunning, cut looks. He glanced up at me and I turned my gaze away hastily.

About two hours later we sat quietly eating the pleasant meal that Stranger had prepared for the two of them. Then he waited until I had gone to my hammock, before he wrapped himself in his cloak and fell asleep… at least that's what I thought he did.

**Sweey: **_**So, that's it for now. :3 Later gators! **_


	3. Birds and Boots

**Sweey: ****_Don't you hate it when you have something ALL typed out on Document Manager then you push the backspace button and EVERYTHING disappears after it takes you to the previous page you were on? Man, just happened to me... lol well, anyways! AGAIN I'll by writing in Allison's point of view! This gorgeous character belongs to Crispy Pink while the sexy Stranger is one of my own. While I was writing and what not I was listening to this AWESOME music. If you'd like to join me click on the link below. I usually put it on shuffle. _**

_** http_:_/www. /playlist/22o92561675/standalone **_

_**(take out the two _ marks. You know how FF.N is about sharing links!)**_

_**Anyways, I've got some polls up on my profile for the first time ever, so yeah, do whatever you're supposed to do on them! :D Anyways, here comes this next, entirely improvised chapter! :3**_

_**...**_

**Chapter 3: ****Birds and Boots**

I woke up early that morning and the sun's beams of light sliced through the night sky, scaring off the remaining stars and sending the moon into hiding.

I surveyed the woods around me slowly recalling all that had occurred the night before. Stranger's effects were still beside the fire, which it appeared he had started, though he was no where to be found.

Feeling guilty still, I decided I should make it up to him by making him breakfast. So, I set off to scavenger for food.

As I walked, my gaze was turned downward, watching the brief glimpses of plants and creatures that happened to be in my path. It just so happened that I saw three blue stones in the grass beneath a tree. When I approached them to study them, I discovered they were eggs.

A squawk resounded and I looked up into the tree, discovering two blue jays occupying the nest. In confusion, I wondered why the birds did not come to protect their eggs.

"Blue jays tend to bully the other birds, pushing out the eggs of a nest that another couple, usually robins, and then they take the nest for themselves," a familiar voice said from behind me.

I turned and frowned, "That doesn't seem very fair to the robins. They lost everything to the blue jays."

Stranger nodded, "But how would the blue jays survive?"

"They could make their own nest," I replied huffily.

A slight chuckle passed his lips, "I suppose that would be the likely answer. Perhaps it is all in a days work for the blue jays, to depend on other birds to provide for their needs."

I blushed, understanding what he was getting at. "I'm sorry for last night."

He achieved a minor lift of his shoulders. "Perhaps it is time for you to stray from dependence and grow to become independent. I can help you with that. I imagine that Sir Meta Knight had yet to even mention me, correct?"

"Yeah," I replied, "It would've been nice if he had though."

"If he had, you would have been less frightened," Stranger added.

My cheeks flushed and I nodded in frustration, "I don't understand it at all! I could have died! Who knows what would have happened! For crying out loud I cut you with a knife!"

"Truly we must confront him about this," Stranger suggested softly.

"He can be such a fool sometimes," I muttered, "If I had known you were here, I would have felt safer."

"That is not the point."

His sudden change of heart had come so abruptly I was caught off guard, staring at him and gawking.

"Had you been aware of my presence  
>here, would you have prepared your abode? No, I think not. You would have searched for me until you found me, not vise versa." He paused to make sure I was getting the picture, "So, is he really a fool, or is it you that is in the wrong?"<p>

My frown deepened, "I suppose…. I am."

He nodded, "But, all that can change. My friend Sir Meta Knight has ordered me to perform some training with you in the ways of a Wanderer."

"W-Wanderer, what is that?" I interrupted him.

An exasperated sigh passed his lips, "Take a wild guess."

"Are you a Wanderer?" I asked.

"No," he replied flatly, "Now, come with me."

I cocked my head in confusion as I followed him, "You're not a Wanderer? Then what are you? And how are you going to teach me the ways of a Wanderer if you're not one!"

He grunted, making no effort to reply.

"You were being sarcastic weren't you?" I assumed of him.

Again, a grunt followed in answer.

I gave up on pushing him to give me a straight answer focusing only on the figure before me.

He was tall, broad in shoulder, and light footed. He moved like he had memorized every tree root, rock, and fissure in this forest. It was uncanny, he moved soundlessly, appearing almost like he was floating over the ground as he led me through the forest. I attempted to walk like he did, only to fail drastically. I managed to slip off a rotten log that appeared dry but was slimy with fungi. Suddenly, I found myself wrapped in Stranger's arms and I looked up to find him staring down at me with an unreadable expression.

"Do not bother trying to move like me, I will teach you in time." Stranger muttered. Then, he released me stiffly and walked away like a deer, graceful and peaceful. Quickly, I blundered on after him.

We came to an area thick with trees and several times, Stranger ducked under branches and other obstacles that came our way. Once he ducked and I couldn't see why he had. Then I found out.

A monstrous spider web had been weaved between two huge trees and I managed to walk right into it, finding myself looking into the eight eyes of a gigantic, yellow garter spider. In meeting this spider, despite my restraints, I screamed bloody murder, twisting  
>around, jumping, and then I heard the hiss of one of Stranger's knives leaving its sheath, then the click that followed with him sheathing it back again.<p>

"Hold still," he demanded heatedly. I abided to his words and watched fearfully as his hand reached for the massive spider that sat contently over my face. He plucked it off, cupping it in his hands and releasing it onto the nearby tree that had previously held his web.

"That is Ginko, a dear friend of mine. From now on, count on his massive web being here between these two oaks," he explained to me as he worked to peeling the web off of me where it still clung to my clothes and face.

Sighing, I followed him into the clearing and stopped when I registered what it was I saw before me. A lovely cabin built of logs, sat comfortably upon a small hill and behind it snaked a small stream dotted with willow trees that drooped over appearing to reach for a drink of the cool waters that flowed past them.

"Is this where you live?" I asked, my voice quieted by my awe.

He grunted, "No… that's the stable. That is my home," he gestured to a massive tree with flaming red leaves was positioned in the center of the clearing. Inside it was hollow and furnished and its walls were littered with paintings. Two easels rested in a  
>corner and several bookshelves lined the walls. There were several halls going up the branches and a spiral staircase led to the upper floor. It was a quaint living space and it suited Stranger well.<p>

"First of all, we'll be getting rid of those dreadful shoes," he began, digging through an old trunk  
>colored with faded yellow paint.<p>

My gaze dropped to the heeled boots that were strapped to my feet and hugged my calves. I had to admit, they  
>weren't at all the proper footwear for the woodland areas.<p>

"Try these on for size," he plopped a pair of soft, leather boots. They weren't a fashion statement, but they looked sturdy enough to do their job. A bright, floral cloth lined the inside and I found that the pattern was familiar to me.

I slipped them on and found they fit perfectly on my feet. I looked up at him and for the first time since I'd met him, he flashed me a smile.

"I went a few days ahead of the occasion to meet with a former friend of mine, Tailor Dee," he explained. "Specifically on Friday of last week, you seemed to be quite fascinated with that bright, floral pattern. Of course I myself would have prefered something a little less than that enthusiastic arrangement... but, I suppose it could have something to do with me being here in these woods for so long."

I could sense my eyes widening, "Wait, you mean to tell me you were there when Tailor Dee was dressing me?-"

"-No! NO! I would never do such a thing!" He held his hands up in defense and I could see his cheeks burning with embarrassment, "That would be going against the Order; not to mention I would be abusing my ability."

I gave him a quizzical look then allowed my shoulders to lift, "I suppose you wouldn't do such a naughty thing."

"Anyway, are you familiar with any form of archery?" He asked me, quickly changing from the awkward subject.

I nodded, "I learned a bit at a camp back at home. I wasn't the best, but I wasn't the worst either." '

"What type of bow were you handling?" Stranger asked me as he moved over, standing before the empty fireplace.

"I don't remember honestly. It looked like a plain old bow to me," I answered to him.

"Did you hold it like this," he positioned his left arm horizontally, aiming the imaginary bow almost as if it were a gun, "Or did you hold it this way?" He shifted his arms to the more traditional stance of archery, where one arm is extended outward, the palm holding the bow vertically, while the other hand pulled the string back, brushing the cheek, and his feet were in line with his shoulders, slightly spread apart.

"That second stance," I told him.

"Let me ask you this, was the bow taller or shorter than you?" He asked me as he relaxed his arms from the position they had demonstrated.

"Shorter," I answered.

Stranger nodded, placing a hand to stroke the stubbly beard that flecked his jaw, "Now, was it made of two strips of wood, or multiple, with levers and pulleys?"

I shook my head, "It was made of only one strip of wood."

"I see. I have one last question. Did the bow curve," he moved one hand in a motion that appeared as two S's linked together from top to bottom, "or was it an arch?" His hand then moved in the motion he'd mentioned.

"It was arched," I replied.

"It sounds to me like you were using a short bow," he decided finally as he moved over to where a massive chest sat. "Come over here," he told me.

I complied, inching my way over to where he stood over the chest, digging through what appeared to be several different kinds of bows.

"A Wanderer must be able to shoot any bow handed to him," Stranger brought reason to him having so many different kinds of bows, "Each shot should be perfect, no matter what the circumstance."

He held up a large, dark bow adorned with a trigger and of odd handywork.

"This is a crossbow," he told me, "It is what we Wanderers like to believe be the first gun."

He dipped his hand back into the chest and pulled out a very odd and curvy bow.

"This is the cousin to the longbow," he said, "It is usually one of the first bows that a Wanderer trains with as it is built to make the draw weight a little less strenuous than that of the longbow. Basically it is a child's version of the longbow."

Next he lifted up an extremely long bow, it was nearly six inches taller than he was.

"The longbow, the bow that made armor useless," he sighed happily, "This was one of the first bows I learned how to handle. It was the first bow that could pierce armor and has one of the longest ranges of all the bows."

He placed the longbow back in the chest and pulled out a smaller bow with two wheels on either end as well as two shafts and about four different bowstrings.

"This bow is one of my least favorite," Stranger admitted to me, "It is known as the compound bow. The reason I despise it so much is well, for one thing, it is designed to make pulling back the draw weight easier. To put it simply, it is designed for wimpy hunters and poachers to be able to kill animals with less strain on themselves while taking the life of an innocent animal."

"But didn't you kill that bird the night before?" I asked him carefully.

He looked up at me, his face reddening, "There is a distinct difference between killing for sport and killing for survival. Today's hunters kill mostly for sport, while I needed some kind of meat to prepare a decent meal for the two of us. I only took what I needed, nothing more than that. See the difference?"

"Yes, I do," I answered to him softly.

"Now, where is it?" He muttered to himself, turning his attention back onto the chest of bows.

I dipped my head as I stared at all the bows, my gaze following his motion as he pulled out a long shaft. He then leaned on it to bring about the arch and looped the bowstring on the opposite end to recreate what I assumed was a short bow. He handed it to me then went over and retrieved his own bow where it leaned on the corner of the wall beside the fireplace. It was nothing like any of the bows he'd shown me previously. It curved like a longbow and stood the same length, but there was an additional strip of wood so that the string went through to both the tips of the longer shaft and down to the tips of the smaller strip that rested on top of the longer.

"What kind of bow is that?" I asked him as we stepped into the fresh air outside.

He looked at me over his shoulder, "It is a double bow, a rare kind that only a few Wanderers know how to craft. It was designed to be used for battle, as its duel configuration practically doubles the power behind the bowstring, enabling the arrows to pierce through just about any form of armor. One of my three mentors, Vagrant, taught me how to make one."

"It's a beautiful bow," I mused with a smile.

"You're dominant left right?" He asked me, quite a bit off subject.

"I'm right-handed," I told him.

Stranger shrugged, "Ah, well, that's all good and well. I typically shoot left-handed, but I'm ambidextrous about most things so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle."

I cocked my head, "So do Wanderers have to be able to shoot with both hands?"

He nodded, "Actually no. I do it because it can confuse the enemy and well, it is good not to be dependant on either hand just as you should not come to depend on seeing through only one eye."

"You have a very interesting way of explaining things," I told him smiling as I thought over the riddle he'd just spoken to me.

He smiled back at me then continued trekking toward the nearest willow tree. There I found an array of targets, a large one mounted half way up the trunk of the centermost tree. The two trees that stood on either side had two targets each, one set high on the trunk, the other closer to the ground. It reminded me of the face of a die placed on number five out of six, missing its partner that would make it a pair of dyce equivalent to ten instead of just five.

Stranger motioned me over to where he stood diagonally from the targets.

"First put this on," he said as he handed me a long leather sleeve and gesturing to my right arm. I did as I was told then stood awaiting his next orders.

"Alright, position your arrow to where the two colored, flat feathers lay against the bow while the odd one faces outwardly. Now knock the arrow in the bowstring and grip it with these three fingers." He held up his own hand and pointed his first three fingers to the heavens. He then demonstrated as he spoke, "Your pointer finger should go above the arrow while the other two reside beneath it. hold the bow with your left hand and pull back with your right," he performed it with his own, monstrous double bow. "You should feel as though your shoulder blades are leaning in to kiss one another until finally, at the moment their lips touch, you release the arrow and they break away from one another as though someone caught them in the act." I blushed as I watched the muscles in his arms shift as he pulled his bow up to aim and flinched when I heard the arrow's _smack _as it collided with the first target. I glanced over and sure enough, the arrow had made a perfect bull's eye.

"Today," he began as he took a few long strides up to the target to retrieve his arrow, "I don't want you to even look at the bull's eye. You're not ready for that just yet." He then set to flipping each of the five targets around, climbing swiftly up the two outermost trees to turn the two higher targets around before landing silently back in the grass to rejoin with me. "Just focus on hitting the targets. That alone can be an impossible feat when you first pick up a bow."

I nodded, lifting up the bow and doing all that he'd said. I then released, felt a stinging slap to my arm, and heard nothing but a _wiizzzzzzshiffffffft _in the end as my arrow flew astray from the target and down, slithering through the grass and finally a _ploop_ as it shot through the water of the small pond that acted as the stomach of the stream.

"Do not worry about the arrow. We can retrieve it later," he said to me. "Is your arm alright?"

"I think so," I sighed, my purple eyes meeting Stranger's hidden gaze. "What went wrong?"

"You moved when you released the arrow," he pointed out. "You let your bow control your motions, while you should be the one in charge. You should imagine yourself as a flexible statue."

I scrunched my nose up in confusion, "Contridictory much!"

He shrugged, "No, hear me out. You should be level and stable like a statue, but moving and swaying like the wind. What would you do if you stood rigid in front of forty armed men with nothing but your bow? You'd have to dodge their attacks while shooting your bow all at the same time. You understand the concept now?"

"Yeah," I muttered.

"Good, now try again," he demanded. "After a few hours of practice, perhaps we could start the swimming lessons. Too much of anything is not beneficial to anyone. Besides it is quite hot outside today."

I shot a few more arrows, not a single one even so much as grazed the target.

He asked suddenly from behind me, "May I?"

"Sure," I managed to say.

My cheeks burned as his arms laid over mine to hold the bow in position. Together, we pulled back the bowstring and I could feel his strength working alongside my own. He didn't take all the weight of the bowstring, but somehow he made it easier for me. We released and the arrow met the target's edge.

"Look at that, your aiming is already improving! Draw out another arrow and knock it," he said softly.

I did so and again he held out his arms over mine to pull back the bow. We did this three more times before he shifted his position. This next time he gently laid his hands over mine as my arms pulled back the bowstring alone. The motion that he had brought my arms to memorize played into action as I released two more arrows, this time the both of them landed closer to the center of the target.

"Alright, finish that quiver of arrows then let's go swimming," he decided, gesturing to the small quiver and it's last three or so arrows. I shot them and retrieved them. We made eye contant and I waited for him to say something.

"Well, let us go swimming," he laughed, untieing the scarf that was tied to his belt. I watched curiously as he held it up to his face and tied it. He pulled off his hood, followed by his cloak. "Your swimming suit in the yellow trunk where I got out the boots earlier. You can get dressed in the guest bedroom upstairs. It has blue curtains, my bedroom has no curtains. I'll meet you over there at that waterfall." He pointed over to the small waterfall that fell gently from a cliff above the pool of water. A slab of flat rock rested behind it, I assumed that that was where he meant for us to meet.

I stepped into the tree that was Stranger's home and stolled over to the old, beat up trunk. Its once bright yellow paint had faded and chipped. I flipped the lid up and my brows rose at the neatly folded cothes that waited for me. In fact, a lot of my clothes were there for me. It looked like I'd be staying here for more than just a week, maybe two, or maybe Stranger was kind enough to give me a sort of selection. Most of the clothes though were earthy colors or camoflague of some sort. I beamed when I singled out my swimming suit.

I dashed up the cast-iron, spiralling staircase and trotted to the guest bedroom, but not before taking a quick peek in Stranger's room.

One wall was lined with shelves full of books, old and new. There was a large table with several maps of land and the stars. There was a desk on the wall opposite to the bookshelves that was littered with sketches of various things, a microscope, writing utensils, and old diaries of what looked to have belonged to someone called Amasi. His bed was no where to be found and there was a canvas on an easel. I tiptoed over to it and grinned. It was Ginko, the garter spider I'd met not so long ago. But there were other things in the painting as well in the background. A doe and her fawn, two blue jays, and various other wildlife. The snapshots I'd seen taken of the forests around here didn't compare to the life that flowed throughout his painting. It was as if every brushstroke brought breath to each creature as they had come to life in the painting.

Sighing blissfully I ran to the guest bedroom and slipped into my swimming suit. It was a lovely swimming suit, colored a light, robin's-egg blue with purple straps that dipped down into a fitting 'V' down my back. I gazed a moment in the mirror to assure that I was modest then gathered my Meta-suit and folded it neatly to be placed back in the trunk. I then dashed back out the door to join back up with Stranger.

I found him standing beneath the waterfall with his back to me as he stood. The green bird from before was resting on his bare shoulder. He had stripped his torso of clothing and removed his footwear. All that was left was his belt and his tan trousers that gathered at his knees. He turned, sensing my approach and I nearly tripped. I had seen him like this before but it was in the firelight. In the sunlight, he was _much_ more attractive... to say the least. Being a Wanderer Stranger had shot a bow since he was a young boy and had always been on the move, whether battling or merely wandering. As a result, he was carved, muscled, yet he was still lean. It was at this moment that I truly grasped how old he was. He couldn't be more than seventeen or maybe eighteen years of age. I blinked a few times and he smiled, looking from me to where the waterfall entered the pool.

"Alright. Here's the deal. We've got three weeks to get you fit in the ways of a Wanderer. Now, I suppose we should start with something simple like the side stroke. Come, let's get in the water. Diving is the best way to go in, do as you like." He then ran from where we had stood talking and lept off the rock and down into the water. The motion was perfect, fluid like the water itself.

I decided to go in more traditionally.

"CANNONBALL!" I yelled as I burst up, then hit the water with a great explosion of water.

Thankfully Stranger hadn't surfaced yet. I turned around after comming up and there he was, with the strip of cream-colored cloth over his eyes. I had to ask.

"Stranger, can I ask you something?" I asked.

One of his eyebrows rose, the first time I'd actually seen it happen. "Oh? Seems like you've already done so but go ahead."

"Why do you cover your eyes?"

Something in the air changed that very moment and I regretted even asking.

"It does not matter," he muttered. On a lighter note, he again changed the subject. "Do you know how to do the side stroke?"

I grinned. Swimming was one thing I was pretty good at. Though diving... well, I still had a lot of work.

Easily I moved into the swaying stroke and moved across the small pond and back to the otherside.

"Excellent. Now, swim beneath the water's surface," he demanded. The water was around maybe nine or ten feet deep where we stood. The water was crystal clear and below us, interestingly, sand blanketed the bottom. It was quite a beautiful place. The area was closed off with only a few entrances as it was enclosed with two walls of rock.

Easily, I dipped my body into the water and darted like a torpedo to and from, resurfacing only when I had returned. When I pushed off of the rock wall I found it to be almost silky smooth like marble, but it had enough friction to keep my feet from slipping.

Stranger named off a few more strokes and I took them all with perfection. I'd had a swimming class or two and had actually won a few rewards and trophies for my ability, but had to stop a few years due to a broken leg. So I was rusty.

"I see you are quite the fish," Stranger said smiling a challenge to me. I knew what was comming.

"But how are you on diving?"

I nearly cringed.

He motioned me to get out of the water with him and he led me up a staircase he himself had probably carved that led up to the top of the waterfall.

"Now, just jump off."

I stared at him, "Just jump off?"

He nodded, "Keep your body straight like an arrow."

I turned and rolled my eyes so he couldn't see, "Of course, like an arrow..."

"Go on."

So I did. I felt my body meet the air followed by a moment of falling through the nothingness then the plunge that came when I met the water's surface.

"Well done!" I heard him yell as I came up to the air. His back was facing me as he stood at the spot where I'd jumped from. I watched as he lept from the cliffside, flipping and landing a few yards behind me. I turned and found him right behind me. I startled and he went underwater. I swam backward, bumped into something that wasn't the rocks, and turned around to find Stranger there again.

"After some practice with diving, you'll be good to go. Now, let us see about silent swimming."

"Silent swimming?" I echoed.

He cleared his throat, "Well yes of course. What do you think would happen if a Wanderer was caught with a pool of water surrounding the entire area that he had to infiltrate? He'd have to swim, right?"

"Right," I agreed.

"Well whatever, for today, just swim. I have got to make my rounds. So, enjoy yourself and do not drown. I do not want you diving from the cliff while I am not here either. So, do as you like." As he said the words, he swam smoothly and nearly noiselessly over to the slab of rock that rested behind the waterfall.

"You're rounds?" I repeated and he nodded, drying himself off with a towel.

"Who do you think has kept all those bandits and wild animals away from the village?" he asked me.

"Oh," I muttered, grinning.

He smiled at me and left the area. A few minutes later I heard a reverbrating_ vwoom vwoom_ and ultimately a _thwunk_! I looked alarmingly at a nearby shrub and relaxed when I found that it was one of my knives. It wasn't long that the other followed it. The angle that the knives landed suggested that the thrower was standing somewhere above the watefall. I looked up on the cliff and found Stranger there leaning on his double bow. I waved and smiled and he did the same before he vanished from sight.

I heard a squawk and looked back over at the shrub to discover the green hawk there. It had a small paper in its beak and it beckoned me to take it. I did so and found that Stranger had left a note for me.

...

_This is my hawk-kyte, Dlareme. I'll tell you what a hawk-kyte is _

_later. If you later need something of me, you can send me a note_

_using Dlareme. If you're in danger, Dlareme will tell you. You'll know_

_when he's trying to warn you of something. Just pay attention. He'll _

_leave should you ask him to come get me. Simply tell him 'Red dawn'._

_I should be back before dinner. Keep a weapon close at all times. You_

_never know what may be stalking you. _

_ ~Stranger_

_..._

I smiled and stroked the bird gently.

"What could possibly go wrong?" I asked the bird.

Dlareme squawked simply in reply.

"True, I should always be on my guard. I'll swim for a little while longer then be done," I decided.

Again the bird chirped.

"I can see why Stranger tends to talk to you so much," I grinned.

The great bird heaved another great squawk, almost angrily.

"What's wrong, Dlareme?" I asked the bird. Then I heard their whispers.

"Looks like that dastardly Wanderer and his little friend took off," I heard a familiar voice say.

"What should we do now?" another voice asked.

"Go in to his house," the first voice replied. "I know it holds the secret to the Wanderer's knowledge of the forest. We're gonna steale it and use it against him."

My eyes widened and I turned to Dlareme. I then whispered, "Red dawn."

I watched as the bird burst into the air and flew toward the path that Stranger had taken.

"Now what?" I muttered under my breath. My eyes shifted to where Stranger had left one of his cloaks hanging on the shrub behind the waterfall. "Hmm..." I narrowed my eyes as I began to think of a plan and then it came to me.

**Sweey:_ What's with me and long chapters these days! Anyways, a fun fact, Dlareme (pronounced DL-lair-may {but you rush over the DL like the U in Sasuke}) Dlareme is actually emeralD spelled backward. Another thing... well... idk. JUST REVIEW! I'm tired, my hands hurt, so I think I'm gonna go read some stuff! XD REEEVIEW! ;D DANKU! _**


	4. Broken Bones

**Sweey:**_** Well hello everyone! ^_^ I thought it was about time I wrote the next chapter for this adorable story! :) Anywho, I'll be putting a picture of Aygul, the mercenary from Clashing Colors, up on my DA today so go check it out! k? Anyways, I'm starting a new tradition! :D Quotes! So, here's the quote for this update! **_

_No amount of sizzle will make a bad steak good." ~J.R.R. Tolkien_

_**Ah Tolkien and your words of wisdom. Alright, so... I'm not really sure where I'm going with this one... I think I'm gonna go with... suspenseful and dramatic! :D Be prepared to give me a nice long review! MUAHAHA! **_

_**The song for today is "The Sore Feet Song" by Ally Kerr. Look it up. It's one of my favorite songs. ^_^ **_

_**Chapter 4:**_** Broken Bones**

I waited until the bandits had gone out of earshot before I slipped under the water and came up quietly beside the large sapling where one of Stranger's cloaks dangled on a scrawny branch. For a long while I stared at it as the passive wind stirred it ominously in front of me, mezmorizing my mind for a moment or two before I carefully brought myself out of the water using it for cover. I then pulled it from the branch and tied it over my shoulders. With the deep hood tossed over my head, I prepared myself for what I was about to do. Stranger's scent still lingered on the cloak, comforting me in the desperate state I was in. Moving out, I used the trees for cover, moving from behind one then ducking behind another as I slowly made my way toward the great tree with red leaves stood waiting like an impossible destination.

The bandits were on the porch now, mumbling in conversation with each other. There were four of them, one human, two humanoids, and a cappy. They entered the interior of the tree just before I reached the porch. Already they were rummaging through Stranger's belongings.

"So he paints," one of them started. They then burst out into laughter.

"What a loon!" another added.

I scowled then realized I held no weapon. I glanced over my shoulder to where Stranger had left my bow and the quiver of arrows I had used to practice leaning on the side of the great tree next to me. Snatching them up, I slung the quiver over my shoulder and knocked an arrow into the bowstring like Stranger had showed me many times this day. Queitly, I moved up the stairs, careful not to step on the third one, which by now I knew made a nasty, loud creek. I'd have to ask Stranger about fixing that later.

"What we lookin' fo' boss?" one of the bandits asked another. It was a new group this time, I recognized none of them from the night before.

I lifted up my bow and aimed at them, opening my mouth to speak.

"I assume your all looking for your graves, shall I deliver?"

They looked at me but it wasn't my voice that had spoken the witty words. I turned around and looked up to find Stranger there, leaning on his double bow with an unreadable expression painted on his face.

The bandits jumped in shock, one of them stepping forward, "Uh, we weren't doing anything really! We just saw this wierd tree and thought we'd investigate, ya know, explore?"

"You seem quite sure of yourself," Stranger said casually, taking a few paces around me to stand between myself and the trouble makers.

"Honest, sir! Is this your house? If so, these are some incredible paintings!" the human said nervously reaching for a painting he'd knocked off the wall some seconds earlier to gesture to.

Stranger took another step forward, "I'm not one easily fooled... especially by fools. I thought your lord and I were at an agreement, that you would not dare cross unto my territory."

"We didn't know it was your house, sir! Please, don't hurt us!" one of the humanoids begged, falling face down before Stranger, attempting to kiss his boots.

Angrily, Stranger kicked the bandit in the face, who whirled back in pain, holding his eye and moaning.

"Allison, get me some rope," Stranger growled to me. I nodded, still wearing the hood, and slipped away to do as I was told, returning with the desired object. Stranger took it and looked at me from the corner of his unseen eyes, "Go guard the door." I did so without question, feeling empowered by the cloak I wore over my shoulders. Maybe this was why Stranger wore one all the time...

"If you'd like to live to see the light of another day, please, step forward," Stranger said, wagging a finger toward himself and they immediately complied, tears streaming out of their eyes as fear for whatever would become of them should they not obey tortured their minds. Expertly, the Wanderer swiftly wound the rope around the four fools in a complicated array of knots and twists.

"Aren't you gonna tie our hands, sir?" one of the humanoids asked.

"No, I was going to cut them off," Stranger said flatly.

The four of them were horrified and they began to plea to the Wanderer to spare their hands.

Stranger unsheathed one of his silver knives from its sheath on his tricep. He tossed it adeptly to one hand, balancing the tip of its blade on his pointer finger. "Hmm... I am quite undecided about all this hooplah. What do you think...Allison?"

The bandits all turned their desperate gazes on me and I gave them my most menacing smile as I looked at Stranger from beneath the hood I was wearing, "In all honesty I think they deserve to loose their hands."

"Oh please no sir! Please!" one cried, "We'll do anything!"

"Just let us keep our hands!" another bawled.

Stranger's face fumed red with anger, "What so you can keep theiving away peoples' belongings? You think I'm a fool enough to let you keep your filthy hands?" At the words he snatched the wrists of the bandit closest to him, that being the human, and held his knife so close to the man's flesh that blood began to seep from beneath it.

I felt my eyes widen in horror. I hadn't thought he'd actually go about doing it! I would have never agreed with the idea had I known. I was to shocked to voice my protest. I stood there, watching as the bandit jerked around, shrieking in harrowing agony as Stranger's knife slowly cut through the bones in his wrist until it came through as a clean cut. Stranger straightened himself, holding the hand for the others to view. I had to turn my gaze away.

The bandit stared at his wrist as blood fountained from the wound. He began panicking as Stranger reached for his other hand.

"Now, give me the other," he demanded darkly.

"NO! Please, I beg of you! We'll do anything!" the man screamed.

Stranger sighed, "Now, why is it that I don't believe you?"

"We will!" another agreed, terrified now.

"We'll tell you anything you want to know!" One of the humaniods pleaded, "Just don't cut off our hands!"

"Anything? Will you lead me to where the Hive is?" Stranger stood, cleaning off the blood that elaborated his mirror-like blade.

"YES! WE WILL!"

"Excellent!" Stranger laughed, sheathing his knife into its sheath. "Allison, got put some water in a pot and hang it over the stove. Tell me when it boils."

"Yes sir," I said, grateful that I didn't have to be there anymore.

I focused wholly on the task he'd demanded of me, still shocked with what had occured. I fumbled for a bucket that we used for drawing water from the creek then headed out the door. I could think of nothing but of what had just happened.

"How could he be so cruel so casually?" I asked myself as I watched the clear waters swirl into the bucket, like Kirby sucking in an enemy.

Heaving the bucket out of the water, I carried it back to the treehollow where Stranger lived. Once I got inside I found no sign of Stranger or the bandits. Dlareme sat on a mounted branch beside what I assumed was Stranger's recliner and he squawked softly to me, fluffing his green feathers.

"Why did he do that, Dlareme?" I whispered to the bird as I poured some of the water into the cast iron pot.

The bird rumbled its throat thoughtfully, taking a few paces to the side on its perch.

I sighed and set the pot over the fire. I found myself wondering about all that had happened the last few days when I heard someone approaching. I turned and found Stranger and the bandit who had lost his hand walking into the living room from a cellar in the floor.

Stranger had wrapped clean cloths over the wound and was speaking soft words to the bandit.

"My friend, I hope I didn't hurt you. I tried to make it as painless as possible by hitting the dead nerves," the Wanderer muttered.

"It's fine Stranger-san. 'didn't feel a thing. Anyways, who's this little fox you caught here in the woods?" the bandit asked.

My cheeks burned and I turned away, focusing on the pot. It still wasn't boiling yet.

"That is Meta Knight-san's shadow, Allison. You know, Meta Girl. I am her second mentor," I heard Stranger reply to the bandit.

"Isn't that nice? I bet the old goat is taking a vacation," the bandit said. "It'd be nice to be him right now."

"The goat or Meta Knight-san?" Stranger asked and they both laughed quietly at the joke.

I narrowed my eyes as I stared at the placid water in the pot. There was something terribly wrong going on. Stranger had just told the bandit my identity and he was also being way to friendly with the bandit for my comfort.

"Allison."

I froze, turning to meet Stranger's unseen eyes.

"I'd like you to meet one of my dearest friends," the Wanderer continued. "This is Shenkye Rioku-san, a shinobi alley to the Wanderers' Order."

I cocked my head as I rose to my feet, "What's a shinobi?"

"It's a fancy word for ninja," Rioku explained. "Going by the term ninja has gotten a bit tense since the Famu ninja betrayed the GSA back in the Neverending War... which Kirby-san ended when he defeated Nightmare."

"Ah," I said, more interested in this fellow than before. He was about a head shorter than Stranger, making him just slightly taller than me. His hair was light blonde and his right eye he wore a back eyepatch and I had a feeling it had nothing to do with his costume, which appeared to be like any traditional bandit. I assumed it wasn't what he usually wore.

"Anyway, it is a pleasure to finally meet you Allison-sama!" He held out his present hand for me to shake and I shook it. I gave him a quizzical look and he realized what was troubling me.

"Oh it was already missing. That was just a feint to get the bandits to talk. I lost it years ago!" Rioku explained, chuckling softly, "What you saw was an old trick of ours."

I grinned and then turned to Stranger, "So if the water's not for cealing his wound, what's it for?"

"Dinner," Stranger grunted contently as he stroked Dlareme's glistening feathers. "Meta Knight told me that you'd learned a few recepies from Edge."

"Edge?" I stammered.

"Oh that's right! You've yet to meet him!" Stranger grinned, "I mean the _good_ recipies that Kawasaki taught you. Like... Thorn's special paste."

"Oh those? Of course! They're a cinch!" I replied, "Where can I get the incredients?"

"The kitchen is down the hall over that way," Rioku said, gesturing the way with his missing hand.

"Thank you," I set off to the kitchen to gather the items needed to make the meal.

...

The three of us sat contently outside on the flat rock that rested behind the waterfall.

"Dith ith a delitheous thme, Allithan-thama!" Rioku said as he shoved another slice of bread adorned with Thorn's special paste into his mouth. I had to wonder who this famous Thorn was but it seemed the subject wasn't to be discussed just yet.

"Rioku-san," Stranger began. I'd noticed that the he adorned names with "san" when discussing matters with Rioku. I was familiar of it from my time spent with Meta Knight but this was the first I'd heard it from Stranger since before Rioku arrived.

Rioku looked up, frozen halfway into taking a spoonful of stew into his mouth. "Yes, Altah-... -Stranger-san?"

"What did you just call him? Altah?" I asked quickly.

The two men exchanged glances. Stranger was obviously furious with Rioku, who shrunk away in the shadow of the Wanderer.

"He said nothing," Stranger growled through gritted teeth.

"I distinctly heard him say, Altah," I said.

"Oh come on Stranger, who's she gonna tell?" Rioku grumbled.

"It's not who's she gonna tell, it's who's going to pursue her to learn what she _can_ tell," Stranger hissed in return to the shinobi.

"Oh come on, I can handle it!" I pleaded.

Stranger looked away, scanning the trees, "Fine... you may as well know."

"HURRAY!" Rioku and I said simultaniously. We made eye contact, smiling at one another.

"My real name is Altan Dawn," Stranger whispered softly, yet somehow clearly. "You mustn't tell another soul, not even Sir Meta Knight, nor shall you call me by that name. Do I have your word?"

I nodded, "You have my word, Stranger."

"Good," Rioku grunted, "Cause if you don't, he'll be sending me after your sorry ass." He waved his missing hand, now adorned by a bowl-like structure that held a knife in place of the limb.

I rolled my eyes, "Well, anyways what were you asking Rioku?"

"I was asking Rioku-san," Stranger said a slight stiffly, "If he had gotten the information he'd gone for."

"Actually, no," Rioku muttered, "I found no sign of it anywhere..."

"No sign of what?" I asked, but no one answered. They'd tell me sooner or later. I still couldn't get over having just learned Stranger's real name, Altan Dawn. I shuddered with delight.

"Then it's a good thing you brought the bandits with you," Stranger mumbled, taking another spoonful of the stew.

For a long while, silence befell the three of us as we ate.

"I'm in need of a swim..." Rioku said absentmindedly as he stared at the clear waters of the pond.

Stranger grinned, "I'm way ahead of you." Already he was tying the light cloth over his eyes.

I undid the cloak I was still wearing as Stranger did the same. Rioku had already slipped out of his shirt and had rolled up his leggings. He slid into the water with a long, drawn out, "Ahhhhh..."

I was the next to go into the water. I decided to do as I did last time, "CANONBALL!" I cried the warning as I lept off the edge of the flat rock and came down with an impressive splash as my body met the water's surface like a... well, like a canonball.

I resurfaced and dared a glance over at Stranger, who had just slipped off his top. He smoothly scaled the stairs carved into the cliff of the waterfall and stood at the top. With the grace of a swan he dove off of the edge, entering the water like an arrow, nearly soundless and blindingly rapid to the eye.

As he came to the air, Rioku snorted, "I think I'll stick with tradition. Allison-sama wins with the CANONBALL!" The last word was yelled, as it respectivly should.

I smiled as I looked around at the new friends I had made here in this forest. The very forest I had entered in belief that it was dark and ominous. I felt a new peace about me when with these three, yes Dlareme counted as one of my new friends.

We swam until evening fell. The moon began to peek over the tree tops and the sun's light began to dim in the distance. Rioku was already out and had helpfully taken the remnants of our meal back inside. That left just me and Stranger in the water. We splashed one another for sometime, chasing one another around the pool of water. I was swimming backward when he vanished under the water while chasing me. I once again, bumped into him and I shuddered with delight as my bare back met his naked chest. I turned and he smiled down at me, "I think it's time we get out of the water now." He pulled me toward the edge of the pool and got out then turned around and helped me out. Conveniently, Rioku had _also _taken our clothes. So we walked back to the treehollow together and I couldn't help but thieve several glances at Stranger all the while.

When we arrived inside, Rioku threw Stranger a white, sleeveless shirt along with a hooded vest, which he slipped into. It was an interesting change for him.

"Allison, I'm sure you've already been in your room but I'd like to explain a few things to you anyways," he said as he stepped onto the spiraling staircase, beckoning me to follow.

Rioku snorted in reply and I had not a clue as to why.

When we got to _my _room, Stranger stopped and smiled, "I'm guessing you've already noticed that there was not bed?"

I nodded.

He walked over to a large cloth and motioned for me to come and investigate it. He pulled the end that was unattatched to the wall and hooked it on a loop secured to the wall. It formed a large, triangular hammock.

"Oh!" I giggled.

"If you need any spare blankets there's some in my room in a trunk. I keep them there because... well... I never found a reason not to. I don't have company very often, you know?" He sighed and it got me wondering about him as he left my room.

Was Stranger lonely?

**Sweey:**_** WOO! Another chapter done! ^_^ In my opinion... I bet I freaked you out! MUAHAHA :D You weren't expecting that part with the hand and what not! MUAHAHA! ... well I hope you all enjoyed it! Please review! :D Oh, and Rioku is a he appears in my graphic novel... though he also has the missing hand, unlike in my GN. :) Thank you! Leave me some good feedback! :3 **_


	5. Moment of Crisis

**Sweey:**_** WELL... I'm at my grandmother's house. ;3 And I've got some spare time to do some writing... cuz my internet's down right now... lol well, without further ado, another chapter of this lovely story! ^_^**_

**Chapter 5: Moment of Crises**

I woke up in the middle of the night feeling cold. At first, I suspected a window may have been left open in my room, but as I rose from my hammock to close the window, there was no need for it. I stared out of it, gazing up at the millions of stars sprinkled above me, hanging in the sky at a place that once I believed was impossible to reach, now here I was, on a totally different planet than mine own. I sighed, still cold and I recalled what Stranger had told me. So in hopes to get warmer, I slipped out of my room and walked down the hall. I passed Rioku where he slept in another spare bedroom, he seemed content enough and was drooling slightly. I smiled inspite of that as I continued my journey down the hall.

At last I reached my destination. Stranger's room was dim, lightened by the illuminating moonlight from the two windows that were placed. From one of them, the glowing, silver light blanketed Stranger where he slept in a hammock without a sound other than his deep intakes of breath as he dreampt. I was curious, I wanted to know what he was dreaming about. Then I realized something, if I wanted to, I could look at his face. His hood was present and if I flicked it back far enough, I would see him.

A moment passed as I stood staring at him, trying to decide whether or not to follow through with such a plan. Feeling bold, I crept forth, inching my hand closer to his hood until my fingertips brushed the soft, green cloth. I held my breath and then cast off his hood, revealling his face. I stood there a moment, just gawking at him. Why did he hide his face? He was far more than considerably hansome and by no means average in appearance. His hair was brown, kissed by the sun, and his features stern and sharp. He slept soundly, as though in dreaming, he lost all his burdens he carried in the real world.

The room darkened as a cloud passed over the moon and I lost sight of him in the failing light. In an instant, I felt something grip my wrist and shove my back against the wall behind me. My shock turned into anxious fear as something cold and deadly thin met my throat followed by the warmth of my own blood oozing from the area of conflict. Slowly, the clouds rolled away and light flooded back into the black air of the room revealling Stranger standing over me, his green eyes glowing slightly and his brows drawn together in his rage. Then, a look of shock came over him as he realized it was me.

His eyes lost their luster of fury, "A-Allison...?"

I could only stare back at him.

He grew stern, "What are you doing in here? Is something wrong?"

I looked down at the knife still held to my throat and met his gaze again. He grew concerned and pulled the knife away gently.

"Forgive me, I thought you someone else," Stranger said softly to me, his voice strained. "We'll have to get you cleaned up quickly, the blade was poisoned."

My eyes widened, "It was?"

He nodded, placing a finger over my lips, keeping my tongue from exploding into a frenzy of panicked words.

"We don't want to wake up Rioku, alright? Now, come downstairs with me so we can clean the wound," Stranger whispered, pulling my sleeve as he left the room.

I followed him down the hall, tip toeing past Rioku's room, and then made our way down the spiral staircase and into the living room. There, Stranger quickly rekindled the fire to life and I took a seat at the available couch. In the process, he awoke Dlarame and the bird arched its wings, ready to do whatever his master asked of him.

"Go back to sleep, Dlareme," Stranger said softly to the green hawk, "I'm sorry for disturbing your peace."

The bird cocked its head and waited for a moment. When Stranger left the room to get some supplies, I watched as the great hawk tucked its head back under one wing and fell back asleep. I was tired too, but I had to stay awake. I was beginning to wonder why the poison wasn't really affecting me.

Stranger returned, taking a seat beside me, "Please forgive me Allison. I-I was having a nightmare and... it must have gotten the best of me as I deemed that the dream was reality."

"It's fine, really," I replied. His green eyes glittered like two jewels as his lips flickered into a brief smile of relief before he set to work, digging through his first aid kit.

I sighed, "Stranger?"

Immediately his gaze met mine and for a moment I was lost in them, frozen by the power and strength in his eyes.

He frowned, "Allison, what is it?"

"I-I..." I had forgotten what I was going to say, but then I recalled what it was. "What will the poison do?"

His eyes shifted to the fire, "If we're lucky, nothing. I don't know how much of it has been mixed into your blood. It should be very little, but even then, it could cause a very painful death. I'm going to have to suck out the poison from the wound, alright?"

I nodded.

"Now, tilt your head upward," his fingers slid up my neck as he positioned my head. Gradually, I felt his warmth as Stranger's own head came toward my neck. I shuddered as his lips met the wound on my neck and winced as he began sucking the poison out of it. Stranger did so briefly before he broke away and spit the poison into a cup. His lips returned and he managed to get the last bit of poison out which he spat into the cup. I eased my head down and found he was already preparing a bandage for me.

Gently, he wrapped it over the wound after adorning it with a salve that would take care of the rest of the poison should he have missed any.

Stranger sat back and smiled, putting the supplies back into the small crate, "There, now, did you need something of me?"

"I was looking for those extra blankets," I explained.

He nodded, lifting up the crate of first aid supplies, "I'll get you that in a moment. Is there anything else you'd like, say, a glass of water?"

I smiled, the truth was I was very thristy. Fear had left my mouth parched and longing for water, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

"Alright, I'll get you that," he turned and stopped abruptly as a certain someone was standing in his way.

"What's the occasion for this party, Stranger? Or were you going to do some midnight training? Well, it's a little early for that, since morning is only about three hours until sunrise!" I recognized the voice as none other than our shinobi friend, Rioku. It was obvious that we had awoken him as he was a slight irritable about his approach.

"Uh, well, there was a slight misunderstanding, but it has been taken care of," Stranger stammered in reply.

Rioku's brows rose in an expression of disbelief, "Oh really? Is that so?" He swirved his body around to look beyond Stranger and the huge crate that was blocking me from view. Instantly, a very sly smile crept onto his face, "Oh I see what's going on here."

Stranger slid past him, "And what would that be?"

"You two've gotta thing for each other, don't ya?" His words were so sudden and on point that Stranger and I both froze.

"I.. uh.. well..." the Wanderer stuttered, his back facing the two of us. He never came to an answer before he walked out of the room to put away the crate of bandages.

"Heh," Rioku grunted with a satisfied smile painted on his lips. The shinobi turned to me expectantly, "Well, don't keep me guessing! Tell me what happened!"

I blushed and his grin broadened.

I gazed about the room as I thought of what words to use, "I got cold and I went to his room to-"

Rioku's eyes widened with delight, "You slept together?"

My own eyes widened with shock and my cheeks burned even more, "Of course we didn't! I got cold and he told me he had some extra blankets before we went to bed so I went to get some!"

Rioku frowned, "Then what's with the bandages?" His fingeres brushed the white cloth around my neck.

I sighed, "Well, he was having a nightmare and I accidentally woke him up..."

One of the shinobi's brows rose, "Or were you stealing a peak at his face?"

I chewed on my bottom lip and he grinned, shaking his head, "Look, I'm pretty good at acting like I'm asleep. Spending as long a time as I had to with a bunch of lazy bandits, I had to learn such skills in order to be able to thieve away information from the main tent."

I grimaced, "So, you already knew what had happened?"

Rioku shrugged, "Actually, I don't know what happened after the moonlight came. So tell me, what happened?"

"He thought his dream was a reality and he brought a knife to my throat," I told him and the shinobi grew serious.

"I see," he muttered. "I told him he shouldn't keep a poisoned blade on hand like that. Accidents happen and he could never live with another death by his hands."

I cocked my head, sensing that there was more to the words he had just spoken to me, "What do you mean?"

Rioku shook his head, waving the matter away with his missing hand, "It really doesn't matter all that much. Anyways, I'm sure you enjoyed the attention from my wandering friend."

I felt my cheeks grow hot with color, "I-It was pleasant enough."

"Heh, I have a feeling there's more to this relationship that meets the eye, Stranger," the shinobi said, turning to face the Wanderer as he entered the room. "Oh, and you do realize you're not wearing your hood."

Stranger's cheeks reddened and he shifted nervously from one foot to the other, "O-of course I did."

"Right," Rioku snorted, "I never doubted you in my life, Stranger, but now, I'm having second thoughts about your answers of late." The shinobi stood and positioned himself infront of Stranger and grinned again, "So what were the plans for the morning?"

Stranger's eyes shifted downward and he appeared too weary to muster an answer, "I-I... We'll start by having the bandits lead us to their main encampment."

"Couldn't I do that? I know the way," Rioku said, taking a seat in a chair throwing one leg over one of the chushioned arms.

"But you didn't get the exact location of Titol's tent," Stranger remined the shinobi. "Which was your goal on your little vacation."

Rioku shrugged, "Look, I still got the other stuff done, but how do you suppose you'll get these bandits to listen to you?"

I frowned, "Wait a sec, weren't you supposed to be a bandit?"

The two men looked at me waiting for me to go on.

So I did, "Won't they realize that the whole cutting the hand off thing was a hoax? In that case, they'll realize you weren't serious which means they won't care what you say to them before!"

Rioku's lips twisted to the side and he looked to Stranger for some sort of explanation, "She's right. What do we do?"

Stranger growled, plopping on the available seat next to mine, "We could start by hiding your identity with different clothes and such, which Allison could probably help you with since she's a girl and knows about clothes and... stuff," he paused and I gave him a quizzical look before he continued, "Now, how to make them forget about you as a bandit..." He sat forward, one elbow on his knee propped over his other leg with his hand resting on his ankle as his free hand stroked his beard. He leaned back and smiled, "Since we'll be altering your appearance anyway, we won't need your bandit garb anymore, now will we?"

The shinobi cocked his head and a gritty smile touched his lips, "I have a feeling I know what you're getting at."

Stranger nodded then turned to me, "Let's get those blankets now, shall we?"

...

I woke up that morning feeling warm under the blanket that Stranger had provided me last night. I sat up and cocked my head in confusion. The blankets I had had before were gone, now a familiar green cloth was covering me.

I lifted up Stranger's cloak, not sure what to think of it. Slipping out of the hammock, I threw the cloak over my shoulders and welcomed Stranger's familiar scent as I walked out of my room and into the hallway, pressing on toward the stairs.

The smell of bacon and cheesy eggs hit me like a great wall of delight as I found myself in the living room where Rioku sat, making breakfast in the fireplace. I assumed it was the usual thing for them to do.

Rioku greeted my cheerfully, "Morning! Can you believe it's only Wednesday?"

I stared at him in shock, "Really? The week's almost over..."

"Huh? Oh that's right, you're only staying for a week..." Rioku muttered. "So, the Wanderer has forgotten to tell you the important stuff, hasn't he?"

I cocked my head as I stole a chair and a plate full of breakfast delights, "What would that be?"

"You're not leaving until you've mastered the art of a Wanderer," Rioku informed me. He plopped a heap of cheesy eggs on his own plate and sat beside me on the couch.

"Oh, well, he never exactly told me what the way of a Wanderer is," I admitted to the shinobi.

He grunted and flashed a grin, "That's just like Stranger, to skip the important stuff and keep everyone guessing."

I met his eye, "So, what exactly do Wanderers do?"

Rioku shrugged, "I mean, it really depends on what Wanderer you're talking about. Well, there are four ranks and two different sects in the Wanderers' Order. The Wanderers themselves and my kin, the shinobi. The four ranks aren't really ranks at all. They treat each other equally and the ranks are more a matter of experience and deserved resepect. Drifter is the leader of the Wanderers' Order. All answer to him."

"He's sort of like a big father to the lot of us."

Rioku and I turned to find Stranger standing there before us.

He rolled his eyes beneath his now present hood, "Well, are you two finished gawking at me? Finish your late breakfast so we can get moving!"

I grinned and continued eating my breakfast while Rioku inhaled his, dashing away to help Stranger with the bandits.

Stranger held up a hand to stop him, "You go with Allison-sama and get yourself all prettied up."

Rioku grunted, his shoulders slumped as he returned to where I sat already done with my breakfast.

"Alright, let's get this over with, Allison-sama," he muttered to me. He would be exactly my height, if it weren't for the nearly bleach-blonde hair that spiked up, rolling forward in a form of bangs.

I smiled and grabbed his hand, "Come on!"

I knew it wouldn't take much. I grabbed a navy scarf and wrapped it around his face until nothing but a slit was left for his eyes. I took some brown eye-liner and outlined his eyes, giving them a shady appearance, and then gave him a pair of sharp shoulder pads that curved upwardly, making him appear almost sinister.

I stood back and placed my hands on my hips in a gesture of satisfation, "There, now you look a LOT more like a shinobi!"

Rioku slid over to a nearby mirror and his eye grinned, "Not bad, not bad at all! I might use this for an alternate identity! You're pretty good at this sorta stuff!"

I shrugged shyly, crossing my hands behind my back, "I try."

Stranger poked his head from behind the doorframe, "You two ready?"

Rioku smirked beneath the scarf, his right eye glittering slyly, "She's not cheating on you, Stranger, relax!"

Stranger blushed and he tossed a glance over to me, "Well, are you... uh... ready then?"

"Yeah," I said, hiding my burning cheeks.

Rioku sighed pleasantly, "Well, I dunno about you two, but I can just _see_ the love burning in this room!"

Stranger lifted his shoulders and turned, "Come on, let's get going."

I trotted up to his side, matching his long strides, curious about the plan.

"There you have it," he said, stopping and gesturing to a branch from the great red tree that was his home. There dangling from a noose was a very realistic dummy of Rioku. I actually thought it was really him at first, until Rioku reminded me of his presence.

"Can I have it whenever this is all over? It'd come in handy, I'm sure," Rioku said as he stared up at the dummy thoughtfully.

Stranger shook his head grinning, "Sure, but don't loose it! It took me nearly all night and most of the morning to make."

Rioku grinned beneath the scarf, "Deal. Now, let's go get those bandits!"

"My thoughts exactly," Stranger sighed as he trod after the shinobi to go fetch the bandits back inside the house where they stayed in the cellar.

I stared after them, and then found myself staring up at the hanging dummy. For some reason, it brought chills up my spine and the world around me grew eerie. I began to wish that Stranger and Rioku would hurry up and return and they did.

**Sweey:**_** Well, that's the end of THIS chapter. Notice how much I stressed on that dummy. ...mmmm some kind of significance? YES! Well... maybe... ;3 Anyways, REVIEWS! BRING 'EM ON! :D **_


	6. Unknown

**Sweey:**_** Well, I'm at a college place… with my dad and I'm bored. X3 So I'm gonna start writing this next chapter! WOOT! Haha... and here I am about 7 months later since that day at the college, rediscovering this in the pits of my computer hell! XD okay, sorry Crispy... **_

**Chapter 6: Unknown**

I watched as Stranger brought out the three bandits with the help of Rioku, who was beyond recognition to those who had known him as kin.

"If you don't listen to every demand I have of you, then you'll end up like him," Rioku growled, jerking his head up to where the decoy that Stranger had crafted of him, dangled from a noose in one of the branches of the great red tree that was the Wanderer's home.

The bandits were thunderstruck, fear evident on their grubby faces as the Wanderer and shinobi led them onward toward the forest.

Stranger turned to me, "I want you to keep a close eye on our surroundings. If you sense anything that raises suspicion, let me know quietly."

I nodded slowly and he mirrored my gesture. Then he returned to where Rioku stood holding the bandits.

The three bandits had been tied like the prisoners that they had become. One thick rope ran across their right side, connected to the shackles that held their right ankle to their left. There was just enough slack between the two shackles on their feet to enable them to walk, but not much more than that. They found they were having a difficult time keeping up with the Wanderer's pace as he hauled the three of them into the woods on a path that only he knew about. One that was not carved into the earth, but rather this path was one that the Wanderer had blazed into his mind, his memory faultless and alert of every twist that he should make.

I walked slightly behind Rioku, who stood at behind the line of bandits, and stepped quietly along. My eyes scanned the trees like I had seen Stranger do countless times before.

The walk seemed endless and I began to tire. I was in no position to know where Stranger was taking us. I wasn't even sure if Rioku knew where we were going. It was obvious though, that the bandits began to get a pretty good idea.

Smirks grew on their faces and they began to step with more confidence in their swaggering as they followed in the shadow of the Wanderer. The bandits seemed quite pleased with the fact that we were heading in this direction. I wanted to know why, but I didn't ask.

Rioku looked back at me, detecting my unease, and winked at me. Or well, his attempt to wink. Missing an eye made it difficult for him to make such an expression, so an exaggerated blink was the shinobi's solution. I assumed that he was telling me that there was nothing to worry about. Stranger knew what he was doing. At least I dearly prayed so.

I stared at the back of the Wanderer and the green cloak that rested over his broad shoulders. He was slender and well built. Hushed and always calm, he only grew angry when he needed to be. Right now, I couldn't see his face, but I imagined that there was about as much emotion to be read from the back of his hood that was written on his face.

As time passed, the trees darkened. The way Stranger had taken us was leading us deeper into the forest. The light began to fail and the clean aroma that had been carried with the gentle breeze was replaced with musty, still air.

I began to feel nervous and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. My pupils widened to see out in the dark as my eyes dashed to every sound that alerted me. Even Rioku began to show signs of discomfort. I saw him plant one of his hands on a concealed kunai, who's handle now jutted out, and he began to walk more carefully than he had before, appearing almost as though he was sneaking around the forest.

I looked at Stranger's back and found no sign of emotional uneasiness in his actions. His footsteps strode noiselessly, he walked swiftly but easily, making us all well aware that haste wasn't in his plan. Stranger held his double bow droopily by his side in a loose left hand and he made no move to seize out an arrow to slap into the bowstring. His right hand though, clenched the rope that secured the bandits. It was as if he was prepared to take action whenever the situation called for it.

After a while, the bandits began to notice how quiet we had gotten. So, they decided to make more noise, stomping in unison. For a while, Rioku and Stranger ignored them.

I turned my gaze back when a cracking sound alerted me. Rioku looked back as well, his one good eye narrowing to monitor the wall of shadows that covered the stretch of forest from which we had come from.

Rioku took a moment and when he felt nothing was wrong, relaxed and took his place behind the line of bandits. I followed, but my nerves were still on end.

The tramping feet of the three bandits grew louder still, making it harder for us to hear. More often I heard a rustle in the leaves or a stick snapping and it became more intricate for me to single the sound out from the clamor of the bandits' marching boots.

Apparently, Stranger also had heard something. He turned and stopped. The bandits continued until they reached the end of the rope where Stranger stood. I watched as the Wanderer cringed at their every footfall as he leaned his ear toward the trees surrounding them.

Stranger snapped at them, "Be quiet!"

The bandits staggered back a few steps, shocked by the tone of irritation in the Wanderer's characteristically serene voice, holding out their arms to keep themselves from tumbling over.

As silence followed, I watched in awe as Stranger stood to listen. He stood perfectly stilled and it seemed that when he did so, that the forest became hushed.

"It's okay to breath, Allison-sama," Rioku whispered. "Stranger has been trained to separate noises and it actually helps if we make ourselves present. Though we must be quiet and still while he listens."

I nodded and returned my attention back onto the Wanderer as he stood listening. He joined us, tying the bandits to a nearby tree. He faced the bandits, keeping his eyes upon them as he had a word with us.

"I am positive that someone is following us. I know not who it is. Their breathing is heavy, implying that they are either out of shape, nervous, or are very tired. Their feet are light, but are not balanced. Keep an eye out for them as we continue onward." With that he stepped forward back to take hold of the bandits.

"Stranger, you surpass Brad Pitt," I blurted.

Stranger apparently hadn't heard me, but Rioku had. He now stood there, gawking with his upper lip curled. I even saw his eye twitch a couple of times.

I stared up at him innocently, "What?"

He shook his head, "Nothing..."

I looked to the shinobi, "Where are we going?"

Rioku shrugged, "My guess is to the bandit camp."

I cocked my head, "Why would we go there?"

"Again, I'm not certain. I believe that Stranger means to use them to get to Titol, the leader of the bandits. I have no real idea as to what he's planning though," Rioku muttered.

"I see, well, let's go back to our place in line," I sighed with a grin.

The moment we arrived, the air began to grow foul and the light began to dimmer. Stranger stopped and the tension was evident in his movements as he turned around to observe our surroundings.

Stranger hissed, "Alright you dastardly Shadow-Shade, just show yourself already!" He took a few steps toward where they had come from and listened.

"I wonder who it is," I said to myself.

"My guess is as good as yours," Rioku muttered to me.

In fact, when this fellow finally made himself known, I leaned forward in order to better see him.

"I assumed it would be you," Stranger said quietly, "Anonymous."

Anonymous was a slight taller than Stranger, just enough so that the Wanderer had to tilt his head whenever the shinobi came to close quarters. For now, he stood a few yards away, staring everyone hair, white, was cut in a foreign style that looked as though someone had taken a bite out of it. His clothing was similar to Rioku's in fashion, though not nearly as colorful. Shades of mostly gray and white cloaked him, making him difficult to see while he stood there in the shadows. Allison noticed one thing in particular, his left eye was the only thing visible on his face, the hole cut out for it was shaped for his eye, with another strip slipping off of his cheek, and a black tear dyed into the cloth mask under his visible eye. The other was hidden behind the gray cloth. She had to wonder if the shinobi could see through it.

Rioku smiled grittily, "Anonymous, what're you doing here? Come back for a rematch, eh?" He drew out his kunai in confidence.

Anonymous merely stared at him, blinking, before he looked back at me. I stared back at him, not sure what to think under his gaze, the gaze of an enemy. And this fellow was no kirby fluff, he was a man and he was taller than Stranger. There was a look in the shinobi's eye and I felt my whole body tremble in fear. The gray-masked shinobi leapt forward with seventeen needles in each hand, thirty-two in all, thrust forth one hand in a motion to stab me through. I closed my eyes and braced myself for I could not move. I hoped death would take me upon swift wings.

Nothing happened.

I peeled one eye open and then opened them both wide with shock, my mouth agape. Stranger stood there, he had placed himself between me and the needles, all seventeen from Anonymous's right hand were sticking from his back, piercing right through the Wanderer's heart. My own beat like the wings of a hummingbird. I turned full circle only to discover that the bandits had escaped... or been set free. I didn't have time to analyze that situation.

"You've forgotten already, Anonymous," Stranger said in barely above a whisper, "But you are not really Anonymous, are you? That was a nice attempt, but next time when you attempt to pretend to be one of our enemy, try and make a better appearance. Anonymous's right eye is the one visible, not his right."

The shape-shifter tossed his head back and laughed, I could see that Stranger and Rioku were taken back at the sudden sound and I had to wonder why. Though I was ever distracted by the heavy needles that still stabbed through Stranger's heart. How was he still alive?

I watched in horror as a purple flame engulfed the figure of Anonymous and shifted into none other than Meta Knight.

"Then who am I Stranger? Hmmm? Tell me," the shape-shifter matched the masked knight's accent with impeccable skill. "What about you Allison, or should I say, Meta Girl? Who do you think I am?"

I narrowed my eyes, a painful expression to make at my mentor, though in my mind I knew it wasn't him.

"Leave her out of this, rat," Stranger hissed. "She has nothing to do with any of this!"

Flames once again engulfed the shape-shifter and he threw out a terrible laugh, "You really are pathetic, Wanderer!" He then took on the silhouette of Fumu, once again mimicing his current shape's voice, "You have no idea how to track someone like me..." Slowly, Fumu became bigger, until the round, blue figure of King Dedede stood before them laughing his unmistakeable laugh, "You betta think quicker than that, Wanderer, or you'll find a knife in your back." Then he shifted into the figure of a young woman I'd never met before, "Perhaps it will be my knife in your back, love."

"Aygul..." Stranger muttered. There was a certain sadness I sensed in the name he had spoken. I watched him closely and slowly I could see his bottled up rage coming to a head. His jaw became rigid, his lips slid into a thin line, and his muscles tightened. Suddenly, he burst forth, dropping his double bow upon the forest floor and unsheathing his knives, releasing his full fury out upon this unnamed shape-shifter.

The fellow didn't stick around to see what would be his fate should he have stayed. The shape-shifter turned into a crow and flew away. Stranger growled angrily and ran for his bow, shooting arrow after arrow until the bird was far out of his sight.

Stranger, despite his usual self, fell to his knees in chest-rattling sobs, covering his face with his hands. At first I thought it was because of the needles, but then I realized that that was not so. Whoever Aygul was, she meant something to Stranger, and I had a sneaking suspected that she had passed on long before I had ever arrived here.

His sobs continued and feeling sympathetic, I approached him, laying a hand on him. The moment I did he ceased his tears and stared at the ground, chest heaving. I looked at the wound and frowned, the needles remained and blood soaked his cloak. He looked at me when I knelt beside him. It seemed that all of his confidence, all of his joy, and all of his strength had been sapped out of him.

A raindrop thudded against my nose and I blinked in surprise. I turned my gaze upward and rain began to poor from the clouds above. Stranger, looked down, shivering, and stood to his feet, helping me up. I didn't understand. He had saved my life, yet after recieving such a wound he helped _me_ up. I didn't know how he was still standing on his own two feet.

In fact, he didn't last much longer. He took one step and was back on the ground. I threw myself down beside him and tried to help him up.

He didn't move.

"Stranger? Stranger," I said frantically, turning him over on his back. Rioku laid a hand on my shoulder and I could see my tear-stained face in the reflection of his eye. There was a solemn expression on his face, which for Rioku, was a rarity. I gently pushed me out of his way and I watched as he searched Stranger's pocket for something.

"Where did he put it...? Ah hah! There it is," he said. Standing upright again, he lifted a peculiar leaf-shaped item, which he placed upon his lips. He blew hard and I expected to hear a terrible screech. Instead flowed out the most pure voice I had ever heard. For a while I was captivated by the sound as it echoed through the damp forest. Then I heard a sound I hadn't heard in a long time.

Hoofbeats.

The rythmic sound of thunder and the hooves of the unseen horse galloping through the forest drummed in my head like some kind of soothing melody. It was as if this horse I couldn't see would take us all back before this all ever happened. And then it hit me. Had I never arrived, had I not been there, the Shape-Shifter would have never attacked me, therefore, Stranger wouldn't be wounded. I frowned, eyes growing wide with the thought. How could I bring such pain to them? How dare I.

A simple whinny knocked me out of my thoughts. I turned, captivated by what I saw. A blue horse, literally as blue as the ocean, came galloping in. Patches of white blotched over its blue body, and its white mane was striped with black. A large patch rested over the horse's face, capturing my attention like an optical illusion. It nieghed angrily at me, thundering toward me.

"Watch out!" Rioku yelled to me, shoving me out of the way of the blue horse's lashing front hooves. I opened my eyes and Rioku was blushing, laying over me.

"Uh, I..." He jumped to his feet. "Forgive Blue here, he doesn't know you yet. He thought you were the one who hurt Stranger."

I picked myself up, despite his offered hand. "Yeah..." I muttered.

"Well, let me introduce you to Stranger's horse, Blue," Rioku said, smiling despite such a disheartening situation. "Hold out your hand to him."

I did and Blue's ears perked up from where they sat flat on his skull. He lowered his head and his ears swivled everywhich way and a concerned expression was painted on his face.

"He's saying sorry," Rioku said.

The blue horse tossed it's mane and pawed at the soggy earth below. Gradually slowing it, lifting it toward me. I stared at Rioku for some sort of explanation.

"Shake it," he said, grinning.

So I did. For the life of me I never thought that I'd ever see the day that I'd shake the hand-er hoof of a horse. Particularly a blue horse.

Blue snorted, bounding away like a cat and running full circle until he came to where Stranger lay. The horse lowered itself to its knees, followed by the folding of his back legs until he lay beside his master. His throat rumbled sadly and he nudged the Wanderer's shoulder, as though telling him to get up.

"He'll be alright Blue," Rioku said, "The dastardly shape-shifter doesn't know our secret. Though, we need to get out of the rain."

Blue snorted, practically leaping to his feet.

I watched in awe as Rioku, though at least a head shorter than Stranger, lifted the Wanderer from the ground with relative ease. Blue bowed down to allow Rioku to heave Stranger over the horse's back. The two of them looked at me expectantly. I was confident to ride Blue. I had had riding lessons for a long while. Of course, I was a little intimidated by the fact that there was no saddle. I'd never ridden bareback before.

Blue bowed down so I could mount behind Stranger's body, slung over the horse's back.

"You make sure Stranger stays on, don't worry about what Blue does. He knows where he's going," Rioku said, he turned to Blue, "Right Blue?"

The horse tossed his mane, I suppose he was saying yes.

"Alright, I'll be right behind you," Rioku said. "Hunt Blue!"

The horse beneath me bounded forward and I grabbed a handful of mane to keep myself mounted. Though my heart had jumped to my stomache, fear no longer held my breath at bay. This horse beneath me, I could feel its muscles rushing forward steadily, gliding smoothly through the muddy forest at a rythmic canter heading back to where the Red Tree where Stranger lived would wait to give them haven.

**Sweey:**_** Well, MERRY CHRISTMAS CRISPY! ^^ Hope you enjoyed it! :D Don't really have a long AN, but hey, the chapter was long! haha**_


	7. Murderous Attempts

**Sweey:**_**K some news! WOO! K, I watched Brave Heart for the first time (all the way through). Pretty damn bloody if ye ask meh! Heh, well, it was amazing. For once my favorite character didn't die! (It's MY island!) Ah, well, other than that it was a wonderful Christmas! I got Zelda Skyward Sword (my parents preordered it after all! so I got that chill golden wii mote! I'm a die hard Zelda fan, Kirby came later.) Now, I also got a set of 132 PRISMA COLOR colored pencils! AHHHHHHH! I did a friggin epic pic of Link on his Loftwing... ah, the colors, the beauity... I'll be doing some pics in color and what not soon. But for now, I'll be chillin' out here and writing 'till ten thirty pm... lol made my mom's coffee so she'd bargain with me! lol Anyways, enough with this random typing about my life, I'm sure you'd like to get back to the lives of Stranger, Allison, and Rioku (Dont forget Blue too!)! Well, enjoy this next chapter that I am about to start right now... XD okay I'll shut up now. Go read (while I listen to this AWESOMESAUCE CD of ZELDA MUZIC! AHHHHHH! BONZAI!) **_

_**Funny, I was only going to make this story ten chaps max... guess I was kidding myself again! haha ^^'**_

**Chapter Seven: Attempted Murder**

The rain was pouring down like a thousand arrows. I squinted my eyes as the water droplets slammed into my face by the hundreds. Behind me my cloak flapped like a flag. Blue's hoofbeats kept in time with the rain as it fell upon the soggy earth beneath us. Stranger was still out cold, slung over Blue's back in front of me. I couldn't see Rioku, but I had to believe he was behind us.

The trees flashed by my eyes, blurred by the speed that we maintained. I was amazed that the horse beneath me wasn't tired yet. The horses I had ridden began breathing heavy just taking a quick run up a hill, but this horse had climbed trecherous slopes and dodged trees, lept over logs, changed direction as fast as the whirling wind that swirled around us. Gradually, as we made our way through the rain-swept forest, I could see a gaping black hole in the distance, but I couldn't make out what it really was.

"Stop Blue! Cease your hunt!" I heard Rioku call out from behind us.

Blue came to a sudden stop and I struggled to keep Stranger safely in place on the horse's back.

I turned to Rioku with wide eyes and he looked at me with an expression of fatigue.

"Come, let us get him into that cave. I'm pretty sure it's one of our temporary camps. We need to tend to that wound of his," Rioku said, yelling to carry his voice over the storm, "We'll wait here until the rain stops or at least until dawn. There's no way we can make with it pouring down like this!"

Blue gave him a curious look.

"Forgive me Blue, _I _won't be able to make it," Rioku snorted.

I smiled at him in challenge.

"What? Oh, funny, you try keeping up with a horse while the wind rages against you and the rain is shooting in your face like a million shuriken! It's a fantastic past time!" After his spout of dry humor, he lifted Stranger off Blue's back and I dismounted.

I followed the blonde shinobi into the safety of a large cave, he looked drastically different when he was wet. His hair, usually spiked up and spilling over his head, was now pressed against his head and dripping with water. His clothes were darker and he made a squishy sound with each step he made.

I grunted with surprise when I felt something touch my hip. I turned and Blue looked at me with a sad face. He was inside the cave, but his rump remained outside with the rain pounding against it.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Blue," I said smiling to the horse, stepping aside so he could get his entire body inside. The four of us could fit comfortably inside this cave, even with Blue being, well, Blue.

With a joyous whinny, the blue roan pinto pushed Rioku out of the way, bashing the ninja into the cave wall, and greeted his master with several nudges on his face and shoulders, urging him to stand again. I was curious to see how Stranger would react to such an awakening and also quite releaved to see him moving and turning his head to his surroundings.

"Blue? Blue what are you doing here? Blue, she is not supposed to see you yet," Stranger muttered half-heartedly; however the smile he had when he saw his horse remained planted all the same. His hands reached up to the blue beast and stroked the velvet muzzle that was currently in his face, blowing hot air on his cold nose. I grinned as Blue, as big as the horse was, laid down beside his master and sprawled his neck over Stranger's belly, sticking his muzzle up Stranger's hood. A moment later the hood was off and Stranger pushed Blue away, leaping to his feet. The blue pinto also pounced to his feet, reminding me of a dog. A very big dog at that.

Stranger flicked the hood back over his face with teeth gritted. Blue slipped over, nudging Stranger so that he fell back to the ground and then extended his head out which Stranger held to keep from thudding down on the hard ground. Blue then lowered his master down gently. From that point on, the blue horse towered over the Wanderer, placing his muzzle on Stranger's belly to keep him from trying to get back up. Even when the Wanderer moved too much, causing Blue to believe that he was straining himself too much, the blue horse would rumble at his master, who would stop in spite of his horse's wishes. It was an interesting relationship I decided, but also quite an adorable one.

"Let there be light!"

Suddenly, there was. I turned to see what it's source was and found Rioku standing over a newly lit fire with his arms raised. In his hands were two sticks now blackened with charcoal. I couldn't help but bust out laughing. The fire was pitiful.

Rioku gave me a hurt look, "What's so funny?"

I tried to surpress my laughter and reclaim my cool, but with little success. I couldn't surpress it enough to answer him.

"You call that a fire?" I heard Stranger say, "It looks more like a candle."

That only worsened my case of giggles. Of course, then I felt an odd pang in my hip, but barely had time to notice it because my laughter was so great.

"Ha ha, very funny. It'd be better, but I'm tired and my depth perception is off," Rioku grunted.

Stranger snorted, "And that ails you from making a fire?" The sad thing was was that the shinobi was utterly serious.

Rioku's brows drew, "Well, you're welcome for saving your butt out there."

"I do appreciate that," Stranger said softly. He glanced at me, "Wait, did you-?"

"Yup, she saw all that just went on. Can't you tell? She looks like she's about to suffocate," Rioku snickered. As he continued watching me his eyes narrowed and his smile faded.

"Allison? Allison are you alright?" Stranger paused and then jumped to his feet, rushing over to me, "Allison!"

My laughter turned into ragged gasps and I pressed my hands to my hip. I brought my hand back after feeling a warm damp liquid seep onto it and it came back red.

"God be with us now," Stranger's voice cracked with fear, "Rioku! Get the salve! Make haste!"

Slowly, black fog made a ring in my sight, giving me tunnel vision through which I stared at Stranger who's voice I could not hear despite the movement of his lips. He looked scared. I had to wonder why. But I never learned why as it wasn't long until all I saw was black and then in my mind thought nothing.

...

I woke up. It was no longer raining outside. I looked over and my eyes widened in shock when I felt something moving beneath my head. I laid there. The movement of the thing was even and deep, rising and sinking. I watched my own chest and realized soon after that it was keeping time with my own breathing. Slowly, I turned my head and discovered then that it was Stranger beneath my head. He had rolled up the cape of his cloak to fashion a pillow for himself and I had slept with my head on his abdomin. The thought of it brought chills of pleasure. My cheek touched his flesh as my hair slid down.

He moved a little in his sleep and I dared to move my hand upon his bare chest, quivering with delight as my hand met the flesh. I could see the shadow of his eyelids flutter open and he lifted his head to look at me.

"Good morning Allison," he said softly, "Did you sleep well?"

I blushed, "Yes, I did. You?"

"For the most part, yes," he whispered.

My cheeks reddened even more as the Wanderer lifted his arms and stretched, his muscles extending underneath my head.

He sat up and helped me up and we leaned against the cave wall. Cold air flew in from outside and I shivered; though Stranger had noticed and he swung his cloak over the two of us.

"What happened last night?" I asked him quietly.

I could not read his face, "There was an attempted assassination. They mistook you for me. Forgive me, I had no idea that they were after me like that, else I would have never offered you the cloak."

My eyes glanced over at the wound from the shape-shifter. It still needed to be wrapped, but it had been cleaned. It still seeped a little blood and I realized then how pale Stranger was. He had lost a lot of blood, I could tell just by looking at him. The wound itself was a disheartening sight. Seventeen needles still flecked his shoulder, after having piereced right through his heart, pushed through the skin of his back. Now they had been pushed forward a little, enough so that they were even with his skin. Though now they stuck out even farther from his chest. Whenever the Wanderer breathed, it looked difficult for him, despite its regularity. He was in terrible pain, but he did well to hide it. I was amazed. I had never seen anything like it. Even Sir Meta Knight would wince and on occasion moan from such a painful wound, but here Stranger was, barely missing a beat in his breath with an expression that was deadpan.

"Stranger," I whispered. He looked at me and I was a little dumbfounded. "You need to rest. Your wound is awful and you look pale."

"Do I?" He sighed, "It does hurt, but I need to wait and get the blood flow stanched before I do anything."

"Stranger."

He looked at me again.

"How is it that you're still alive?"

It sounded a lot worse coming out of my mouth than it did when I had thought of it.

"Alive?"

"The needles went right through your heart. How are you still alive?"

"I-I..." he struggled to answer. "Allison, there is something about me that you do not know yet."

I rolled my eyes and grinned, "Stranger, there are a lot of things about you I still don't know about."

The corner of his lips twitched in a brief smile, "There are many things about myself that not even I am aware of."

I looked at him and realized he was absolutely serious. I scooted closer to him, "What was it you were going to tell me?"

"Allison, I have no heart," he said flatly.

"What? You're joking," I said. Once again I met his hidden gaze and new that it was true.

"In place of a heart I have a stone. It is known as the Emerald of Enmity," the Wanderer replied. There was sadness evident in his whispers. "That is why I am always so-"

"Grumpy?"

The two of us looked over and found Rioku staring at us from where he'd been sleeping on the ceiling, upside down, from the heavy roots of a tree that had grown through the cave. He looked like a monkey, I thought. Though he looked at us with a weary gaze.

"You should have seen him last night when you went out Allison. He was frantic! I could barely work the salve with him hovering over you like that," the shinobi grunted.

"You were not working fast enough. Your hands were shaking from the cold, but you did a good job," Stranger answered, though I could see his cheeks were reddening.

"Oh Allison, guess who sucked out the poison," Rioku snickered.

I placed a hand over my hip where the wound had been and blushed, "Stranger?"

The shinobi was already nodding.

"I did, because you were complaining that your lips were turning blue," the Wanderer muttered.

Blue looked up and snorted from where he laid in a corner by the dying fire.

"Well, we outta get going. I'll break down the camp while Allison tends to that wound of yours," Rioku said, leaping from his awkward perch.

Sighing, Stranger laid back his head again, "Of course Rioku, we will get right to that."

Rioku trotted over to me, handing me a pouch full of first aid supplies. I blushed, not knowing at all what I should do.

"Don't worry, Stranger will tell you," the shinobi said with an attempted wink.

One day I was gonna mention that to the shinobi.

I hovered over Stranger, my legs tucked underneath me like I often saw Rioku do, "So, what do I do first?"

"First? Well, I have to get these needles out," Stranger sighed.

"Put some of that yellow salve around each of the needles. It will dull the pain and help them come out faster," Rioku called to me.

I frowned, dipping my hand down in the bag in search for the salve. Finding it, I opened it and wipped it around the needles. Quickly the yellow turned orange from the blood and I grimaced each time Stranger's chest lifted with his lungs, for each time he did so, the holes around the needles tore a little more.

I put my hands around one of the needles and looked at Stranger. He nodded and I pulled at the needle. He gritted his teeth but made not a sound as I pulled them out. I could tell he was just trying to make it less difficult for me.

That was one, seventeen more to go. I reached for another and slid it free. The next came faster. And soon I had only four left, each sitting right over his heart of stone. I didn't really believe what he had said about his heart earlier until now. His gritted teeth turned into wincing as I pulled one of the needles free, hearing an otherworldly scraping sound. His heart of stone, as it beat, tugged back the needle from my hand for a moment. My fingers fumbled for it and I jerked it free and Stranger grunted briefly in pain. I reached for the next one and he reached his hand up to grab my wrist. For a moment he didn't let me move my arm. But then he pushed my arm upward and helped me take the needle out. I saw tears streaming down his face and couldn't imagine the pain.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and knew exactly who it was. Rioku vanished from behind me and went to Stranger's left side. Placing his hand on the Wanderer's bare chest and slowly his hand sunk down through Stranger's skin. I watched in shock. Using his shadow-shade abilities, Rioku tugged the last two free with relative ease and Stranger's pain subsided.

The shinobi pulled out his hand and shook his head, "That was a nasty set of wounds, my Wandering friend."

Stranger's breathing had lightened but he looked altogether fatigued as he nodded his head.

"Now, I'll be back with some water. I built up another fire to boil it on. For now, use that sponge in there to press against the wound to keep the blood flow down," Rioku said. "I'll be back before too long." He looked to the pinto horse who laid lazily by the fire. "Come on Blue, pick up one of those buckets."

The horse picked itself up and grabbed a bucket with his mouth. He walked out, paused to look at Stranger who nodded his permission, and Blue dashed out excitedly after Rioku, who just barely missed the horse's hooves as it galloped quickly passed him.

"Ah come on Blue! Wait for me!"

I watched, smiling, as the blonde shinobi dashed after the horse and once again I was amazed by his speed.

I then recalled the instructions that Rioku had given to me and pulled the sponge out of the bag and pressed it against Stranger's wound. He grimaced and once again placed his hand around my wrist. Though this time, it was a loose grip.

"Thank you Allison," he said.

I looked at him in confusion, "For what?"

"For staying here with me," he answered.

"Oh, no problem," I answered stiffly, "Um, Stranger?"

"Yes, Allison?"

"I never got the chance to say thank you," I said, feeling silly as I did so.

"For what?"

"For saving my life yesterday," I finished.

"It was my pleasu-"

My lips cut him off and I felt the warmth of his breath on my cheek as we kissed. His hands moved to me, on holding my waist the other stroking my neck. I leaned some of my body weight on him, leaving my legs to support me on one side. I was careful not to elbow his wound. Our lips broke apart and he allowed a smile.

"Allison."

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

This time he reached his hand up and pulled my head closer, pressing his lips against mine.

There was a whinny behind us and the thundering of hoofbeats. We broke apart and Rioku snickered. We both looked up to where he was perched, once again upside-down.

"Awe, you two are so cute! Don't mind me, keep going," he said with a smile.

"You kind of ruined the moment," Stranger muttered.

"Oh sorry," Rioku said softly. "Didn't mean to. Even though it was actually Blue who caught your attention first."

Stranger grunted and I smiled, sitting back up with my legs tucked underneath me. "We need to get that wound of yours dressed up properly," I said.

"The water's ready," Rioku said, handing me a bucket of hot water. "You clean the wound, I'll go make some tea."

Cleaning of the sponge, I pulled it out of the water and stroked the wound carefully, clearing the blood and dirt around the wound. After it was finally clean I went to grab the white salve that would ceal away the infection.

"Hold on, let me turn over so you can clean the otherside," Stranger said. He turned over and I blushed as I watched him do so. He had muscles toned that I didn't know existed!

I rubbed the wound clean and reached for the salve but then realized that we had come to a dilema. Rioku quickly recognized it.

"Stranger, you're gonna have to take off the cloak so she can wrap it."

"What? Oh, I see," he growled. Sighing, he unclasped his brooch and slipped off his hood. I stared at him for a long time and he looked at me with a brow raised.

I blushed and fumbled for the salve and leaned over to smear it over the wound. He watched me with his head bent in my direction. I sat to his left stroking his shoulder with the salve. He watched my hands a while and a few times our gazes met. His eyes were unlike any I had ever seen. They were as green as emeralds and glittered like shimmering stones. So deep and full of emotion, it was no wonder why he hid them from others' site.

Carefully, I placed the bandage over the clean wound and Rioku trotted over. "Here let me wrap that. You're gonna do it to loosely."

I smiled, knowing it was the truth. I wouldn't be able to tie it tight enough. I was too gentle.

Stranger grimaced as Rioku pulled the cloth taut so that it would hold the bandage secure. The shinobi stepped away, sank into the ground vanishing, and then appeared again with some tea. "Alright, there you go, love." He was doing so in a joking manner as he handed the Wanderer a cup of tea.

"After this, we head back to the tree hollow," Stranger said definitely.

And it was so. He and Rioku broke down camp the moment they finished their tea. After that Stranger put back on his shirt and the leather armor that he also wore, and then clasped back on his cloak, flicking the hood back over his eyes.

"Come on Blue. You are my ride home today," Stranger said to his horse.

Blue trotted happily over to him and I watched as their bond was shown. Stranger stroked the horse's ears and the horse gently nudged him back. As Stranger turned to me, Blue placed his head on Stranger's shoulder, staring at me with ears perked forward. I walked over to them and Stranger looked to Blue.

"Bow in the presence of a lady, Blue," he said.

Blue did so and I mounted with a boost from Stranger, who formed his hands in a sort of stirrup. It didn't take him but a moment to mount behind me and Blue trembled with excitement.

"Hunt the sky Blue," Stranger said softly.

The blue pinto leapt forward and this time I was ready. I turned to look at Stranger. He had his head down so his hood would cover his face. It wouldn't be long that we would return to the tree hollow. Then we saw smoke rising in the distance and Stranger brought Blue to a halt.

"What in the name of Dedede is that?" Rioku said from the tree tops. "It looks like a ship crashed into the forest!"

"For the love of-, why is it always in my forest! Why can't Meta Knight get a little of the action now and again?" Stranger hissed to himself. Growling words of another language that I had a feeling I shouldn't repeat, Stranger urged Blue toward the smoke.

What could it be? Though, I would find out soon enough.

**Sweey:**_** I'm gonna end this chapter here for now. I like it... it actually came out longer than I had planned, but I gotta get to work now! So I'll see you all around! ^^ Later gators! :D I actually have not planned out ANY of this... so don't ask me who's gonna pop outta that ship! I have no idea until Stranger does! X3 **_


	8. Better Blind than Dead

_**Sweey:**__** I'M SO BORED! Kidding haha! Seriously tho, I've gotta do something to get my brain moving... ;. Hum... well just so you all know, I just beat the Earth Temple (The Second one) on Zelda Skyward Sword. I'm lovin that game! Though I'm not getting very attatched to Fi. I got pretty attatched to Midna in TP and Zelda in ST, but Fi, I'm just not feeling it... maybe its cuz she's not exactly human. Hey Fi! **_

_**Fi: You called master?**_

_**Give me an analysis of my current situation.**_

_**Fi: There's a 95% chance that you won't finish this chapter tonight and a 100% chance that you're going to go grab a glass of a cranberry beverage. I assume you will also go clense yourself in water before you go to bed at 11 o' clock. **_

_**Wow, you were pretty spot on! Now, I'm gonna go get some cranberry juice (with lime! ^^) before I start this chap! **_

_**Fi: There is a 1oo% probability that in this chapter there will be an appearance of the character-"**_

_**HEY! HOLD UP THERE! Don't spoil it! **_

_**Fi: Forgive me master.**_

_**Whatever... peeps, GO READ! ;D**_

_Chapter 8: _**Better Blind than Dead**

"For the love of Ivo," Stranger growled as he brought Blue to a sliding halt. He put one arm around my waist to keep me from falling off and gratefully I held on to it.

The ship had plummited through several trees, crash landing in the forest. It was a small ship with a similar structure to a small pod.

"Rioku, do a quick scan," Stranger said to the shinobi.

Rioku nodded, dashing forward and leaping down, vanishing into the ground. A moment later he was back.

"It's the Organization's all right."

I looked at the shinobi in confusion, "The Organization?"

Rioku nodded, "The Organization is a... well, an organization. They serve under Nightmare Enterprizes supplying elite assassins, shinobi, and the like, as well as new subjects to turn into demons. But they're far more independent than ol' Nightmare realizes. In fact, they practically run all the hooplah that goes on! The whole Organization works under one headmaster, Doruk Hakan. Course, we've never actually seen him." The shinobi paused and scratched his temple, "But I suppose seeing isn't really believing, eh?"

"I guess not," I answered.

Stranger sighed irritably, "Back on task. Who do you suspect pioleted this ship?"

"Hey, I was just giving her a little explanation," Rioku muttered. He then turned and looked at the ship, scratching the back of his head, "I dunno. Whoever it was did a terrible job flying it. They obviously had no idea what they were doing. They may as well let a blind man at the wheel!"

"Funny, I thought I did a splendid job flying it," a voice said from behind.

The four of us turned our heads to the back of a strange man. There was a rice hat on his head and he wore tattered clothing. Around his neck was a yellow scarf and he leaned on a peculiar rod, elaborated with gold, silver, and copper designs all reflecting lightning.

Stranger let out a relieved chuckle, "Jebediah? What on earth are you doing here?"

The fellow turned, revealing a brilliant smile. His eyes were covered with an orange scarf and he wore a yellow-green cloak. Blonde hair stuck out widely out from under the green cloth. The hair was so blonde it was nearly white. His smile was infectious, causing one to sprout on my face.

Jebediah took a few steps forward to meet us. I watched as sparks of electricity danced from his hand, down through the rod, and into the ground. He smiled up toward me and Stranger. "I heard a lady's voice among you, could it be that the lovely Aygul has returned?"

I heard Stranger's ragged intake of breath.

"I am afraid you are mistaken, Jeb. She died years ago. I thought you knew."

There was a look of extreme sadness that came over Jebediah's smile, "I see. How terribly unfortunate. Forgive me for asking, but what happened to her?"

"We shall discuss it later. I cannot now. My heart still ails from the experience," Stranger said with much difficulty.

Jebediah nodded, swallowing hard. "Alright then Wanderer. I suppose I'll have to wait until then. So who was this voice I heard?"

"That would be Allison-sama, Jebediah-san," Rioku said.

"Ah Rioku! It's been too long! Now, this Allison-sama, let her be known," Jebediah said, "I'd very much like to hear her voice again."

"I am Allison," I said.

Jebediah smiled, "That you are, m'lady. I am Jebediah, also known as the Lightning Knight. What a shock that is, eh?"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," I said smiling.

"How many of our friends know her?"

"Just us," Stranger said. "She is Meta Knight's current apprentice."

"Is she now? Well, can't say I'm surprised!"

Stranger's head cocked to one side, "What do you mean by that?"

"I heard about someone called Meta Girl when I was sneaking around the Organization's First Fortress," Jebediah said with a bow.

"What?" Rioku and Stranger snapped in unison.

Jebediah raised his hands, "Calm down you two or you're gonna wake that poor owl up there!"

I looked up in the tree and sure enough there was an old owl sitting in the tree, glaring at Stranger with one eye closed.

Stranger growled, "What do you mean you were sneaking around the Organization's First Fortress? Kadir Kadri is there! How could you be so foolish Jebediah? Did they see you?"

Jebediah's mouth became a thin line, "Careful what words you choose Wandere or they are liable to muster quite a storm between your friends."

Stranger looked away, frustrated. I felt Blue shift nervously underneath us. I myself had never seen Stranger act so... irritable.

Jebediah sighed, "Let's get back to the tree hollow and I'll tell you all that went on, alright?"

"Very well," Stranger muttered. He extended his hand out to Jebediah and pulled the knight onto Blue's back. Stranger squeezed his legs around Blue's belly and the pinto trotted through the forest, carrying us toward Stranger's home, Rioku jogging alongside us.

...

They reached the tree hollow around evening time. Stranger was evidently relieved that his home had not been ransacked by thieves. Our small party entered within the great red tree and Stranger prepared some tea for us to enjoy while Jebediah told his story.

Jebediah sat with his legs crossed on the floor. He had on a solemn expression and I had a feeling it was a rare occasion that he wasn't smiling. Stranger sat on the arm of the couch and I was seated on the otherside with my legs pulled up to hold up my chin. Rioku found his usual spot in one of the twisted branches that grew inside the tree, sprawled over it while drinking some foreign liquid out of a small shallow bowl. Blue poked his head out of the window and, as was typical, Dlareme sat perched on his post beside Stranger.

"So Jeb, what adventure did the Lightning Knight run off into this time, hmm?" The shinobi sipped from the bowl of liquid and did so with his typical optimistic grin slapped on his face.

Stranger was, as usual, in an unreadable state of mind. His visible face was deadpan, so I couldn't tell at all what the hooded figure was thinking. The Wanderer ever watched, intent on Jebediah where he sat on the floor.

"Well, I wouldn't so much call it an adventure, it was more of an affair," Jebediah said.

"Oh, this just got interesting," Rioku said, leaning forward so he could better hear the blind fellow. Or maybe it was just to embellish his previous statement. I raised a brow and smiled. Rioku always managed to turn everything upside-down and backward with his words.

"Indeed," Stranger muttered. He was now crossing one leg, propping his elbow on his raised knee, and cupping his head in the raised hand. It didn't look like it was very comfortable, but after all it was Stranger and Stranger often did what others see as, well, strange.

"As you know, Kadir Kadri has been interested in the Lightning Knight for some time now and he invited me for tea. As you all know, I can't ignore such a request invovling that beverage... or that company. The Lightning Knight is still believed to be neutral in this war, so I assumed this would be our best chance to grab hold of such a glorious oppertunity in order to uncover what that schemer is thinking in that dark mind of his. So naturally, I agreed to attend his little tea party," Jebediah paused, rolling his head to one side, "It was pleasant enough, though he monologued for some hours to me. I listened to his words, snatching each into my memory. He mentioned something about an assassin being sent here, so of course I came. He lent me that ship, or rather, I took it with his statement that everything he owns is mine to own as well. I don't think he'll miss one little pod, d'you think?"

"Of course not! Though, I think it would a mite bit more beneficial should you have taken one of their battleships and crash landed it like the pod. 'Course, they'd probably miss that one more," Rioku mused, sipping once more on his drink.

Jebediah chuckled under his breath, "I suppose that would have been clever. Though it would have stirred the hornets nest quite a lot more."

I looked around, bored. When I turned to peak at Stranger to ask him a question, I realized that he wasn't there. I sat up, shocked a little. I looked behind me around the room and found he was still not there.

"So, did you see anyone interesting," Rioku asked.

"Define interesting," Jebediah answered dryly, "For your interesting and my interesting are two totally different sides of the coin."

"Interesting as in female," Rioku answered smiling.

"Female? Well, I cannot say there were many, seeing as I cannot see any better than a bat," Jebediah answered with a snicker.

"Well, you can't blame a guy for trying," Rioku sighed, smiling but with less of his chipper manner radiating from it. I noticed then that there was a since of loneliness in him, similar to what I often heard in Stranger's voice. I sorta felt sorry for the little shinobi.

"So, the only reason you came here was to see if we were alright? That is fantastic," Stranger growled sardonically, "That is just what I need, another child to look after." He was at the doorway all of a sudden and I jumped a little when I heard the edge in his voice.

"Stranger," Rioku muttered, "That's going a bit far."

Stranger didn't relpy to him, not to anyone. He simply cocked his head and walked through the door.

"You know he doesn't mean it, Jeb," Rioku said.

Jebediah sighed, "I know it. We all do. He hasn't been the same since that day."

"I thought you didn't know," the blonde shinobi snorted.

"He can't keep it bottled up inside like this," Jebediah shook his head, "It's enough to kill a man, even one as strong as Stranger. I thought I'd give him a way to get it out. Someone to vent to."

"Now that you mention it he hasn't spoken a word about it since that day, unless someone brings it up like you did today. Then he merely dismisses the subject with excuses," Rioku muttered. "He's just as good as dodging the subject as he is at dodging arrows."

"No kidding," Jeb frowned. "I cannot say that he'll ever be the same."

"A death like that? After such an experience? There's little chance," Rioku replied sadly.

All this time I sat and watched the two men as they conversed. I wasn't exactly sure what "it" was or who Aygul was but I was beginning to fit all the puzzle pieces together in my head. But now my thoughts were focused on Stranger. He had left just a moment ago. Where had he gone?

"So, how long have you known about it?" Rioku asked Jebediah quietly as I made my way quietly toward the door.

"A few days since its occurance," Jebediah answered.

"Who told you?" Rioku wanted to know. I opened the door and slipped outside. From the open window I heard Jebediah's reply.

"From Sir Thorn," Jebediah said softly.

I froze. Now where had I heard that name before?

"He and young his young shadow, Edge, met up with me and told me all that had occured. It was a sad day. Stranger nearly fell apart," Jebediah sighed. "To kill the woman you love for the greater good... that is a lofty price to pay for loosing one's heart."

"It wasn't his fault," Rioku hissed.

I jumped a little. I had never heard Rioku's tone shift to such aggression. Not once! I listened carefully, pressing myself against the wall.

"I know, I know," Jebediah huffed, "But let us get on a lighter subject. My heart is growing heavier just thinking about it."

"I agree," Rioku muttered. "Sake?"

"No, no. I'll pass on your native drink. I'd rather have another cup of tea," Jebediah declined the offer politely.

So that's what Rioku was drinking from the bowl. Whatever sake was it had to be some sort of alchohol of some kind. I wrinkled my nose and grinned. I never would have guessed Rioku would drink something like that.

My eyes widened as I recalled the very reason why I had snuck outside during their conversation.

Slipping down the steps, I passed through the small field that surrounded Stranger's abode, separating it from the enclosed circle of dense forest. As I walked, I rolled my foot from heel to toe, exaggurating the movement as I had observed Stranger doing. I wasn't sure why I was copying him, but I immediately noticed that not only did it secure my balance, it made my footsteps far more quiet than when I walked on the tip of my toes.

As I reached the forest, I waited a moment to allow my eyes to adjust to the dark. Thankfully there was a full moon above me; though there were a few clouds passing through, often covering the nightscape in a brief cover of darkness before it passed on and the light returned. I had no idea where Stranger had gone and I had no clue where to start looking.

I scanned my surroundings, flicking up my hood, and stared out into the dark. I then noticed Blue in his small paddock. He was staring out, slightly off my course of direction. There could only be one thing that he was so interested in, so I set off in the direction that the horse was looking.

It was a cool night. The ground was still a bit damp from the rain from the day before and there was a warm and gentle breeze that twisted through the high branches of the trees, making them appear as though they would snap any second. So I snapped my gaze back on the ground ahead of me, focusing on the task at hand.

Then a worm of doubt began to gnaw at my confidence.

What if Stranger wasn't in this direction? He had to be. Blue was looking in that direction. The little horse couldn't bare to be separated from his master. Was I still on course? I mean, who knows? I could be going in circles. Then again, I hadn't seen anything that I'd already seen before aside from trees, though they were all uniquely twisted in various directions. I began to notice that the majority of their branches were stretching away from Stranger's house. I had to wonder why for there was no one around to answer my question.

I then saw a silhouette shaping itself in the distance. At first I thought it was Stranger, but I had to be certain. Slowly, I approached the figure and gradually, the closer I got, the more I realized that it was not Stranger. Instantly I recognized the figure as the one who attacked us before. He was illuminated by the light of the moon and I could easily make out the details of his figure. Anonymous, Stranger had called him. His back was to me. He was a slender figure, carved and muscled. The man stood as still as the trees, locks of the white hair that framed his face swayed gently like the high branches of the treetops.

Without even budging my head, I looked up at the moon and cringed as I saw a cloud slowly creep over it, like some dark beast consuming an angel. My eyes snapped back at the back of Anonymous as he slowly was hidden from my sight as the cloud blotted out the moonlight. My eyes widened to allow in as much light as they could grasp, trying desperately to make out the silhouette of Anonymous. I couldn't even see the fallen tree I was stooping over, nor could I see the bush that flanked me on my right side. It was pitch dark.

In relief, I looked up at the sky to see the moon slowly reappearing, flooding the land below with its silver light.

But when I turned my eyes back to where Anonymous stood, he was not there. Quickly, I scanned the forest but saw no sign of him.

Before I could react a hand clamped shut over my mouth, smothering my yelp of surprise. An arm wrapped around my torso from behind with gentle force as it pulled me down to the ground.

I could see a cloud of breath mingle with mine and the warmth of human air on my neck. I expected to hear my captor say something catchy like, "Looks like I _caught _you by surprise" though I never heard a word. In fact, I heard nothing. All I could do was feel. It was like fire where the hands held me.

Finally, I was turned around to meet the masked face of none other than Anonymous. His face was deadpan, robbed of expression.

I narrowed my hidden gaze and tried to break free of him, but to no avail. He held me close to his body, my hands planted on his chest, while his hand remained taut over my mouth and the other around my waist. He was like a tree. Expressionless and voiceless and impossible to move.

From that point on we had a staring contest. I don't know how long it was. His face began to shift around and I knew well I had been staring at him for far too long, for my own eyes were tiring and beginning to shift his shape.

What had Stranger said about Anonymous? What had he said to the shape-shifter?

_"But you are not really Anonymous, are you? That was a nice attempt, but next time when you attempt to pretend to be one of our enemy, try and make a better appearance. Anonymous's right eye is the one visible, not his right." _Stranger's words repeated through my head like a soothing melody and slowly I relaxed.

I focused then on Anonymous's eyes. His right eye. That would by on my left. It was the real Anonymous.

I decided to voice my discovery, though it came out as more of a dry crack, "Anonymous?"

He immediately released his grip and nodded, placing a finger where his mouth should be, prompting me for silence. He then vanished before me and I blinked in surprise.

After I waited to make sure that he was really gone, I dashed off to find Stranger. I had to tell him what I had just seen. But then I heard something that caused me to stop dead in my tracks.

Howling.

_**Sweey: **__**Well, that's it so far! ^^ Please review! :D **_


	9. An Unfortunate Set of Circumstances

_**Sweey:**_** Well, okay then, I'm back! Once again... ;. Yeah, I've been lazy and busy at the same time... tell me, how can one such as myself accomplish such a thing? I'll tell you how! Doing art and slacking off by writing my story instead of doing my homework... heh... that was the story of my life this last weekend! XD Anyways, enough about my life... to this! Oh, and I'll be switching from first person to third person. In first person, it is ALWAYS Allison. ;D Kinda like the way I did Eyes of a Stranger and Clashing Colors. However, this won't happen quite as often. Things happen that Allison doesn't see, but I want you to see them, so HAH! You will see... ;3 **

**Chapter 9 An Unfortunante Set of Circumstances**

The howling began to grow louder. I couldn't tell which direction it was coming from. My eyes danced around as I stumbled hastily through the forest. I couldn't remember which way I had gone before nor could I remember how to get back to Stranger's tree hollow. I looked up, the moon was still bright, flooding the forest below with light. However, at this time, it made everything appear ominious and far from the peace it had brought me when I set off searching for my wanderering friend.

The howling errupted again, this time it sounded to only be about a few yards behind me. I quickened my pace, trying to get away from the wolves. They were the ones from before, the ones from the night that Stranger had saved me...or at least that's what I thought. I looked behind me and could see yellow eyes bouncing in the dark as they grew closer. So I ran faster, pumping my legs as my lungs dragged in the air and pushed it out. They began to burn after a few more minutes, making breathing painful. I had to press on. My very life depended on it.

I ran to a small clearing and kept running until I came to a small rocky passage between two cliffs. I ran in and it seemed to go on forever, one way only with twists and turns but no new routes presented themselves to my pattering feet. I stopped at the edge of a small cliff and found a clear body of water below. I had to go into it, so I did. Instead of going for the canonball, I attempted Stranger's graceful dive. It must have been the direness of the situation, because I slipped into the water like an arrow. I came up for water and reached a patch of rocky land just in time to see the wolves at the end of the cliff. In horror I watched as they began following through down the narrow pathways that lined either side of the body of water, leading down to where I was.

I looked around frantically, looking for some chance of escape. It came with the sight of a cliff. So I scrambled up the rocky wall, climbing up the cliffside and watched as three wolves gathered around beneath it, snapping their jaws up at me and growling like I imagined their bellies were. I was safe where I was, but my nerves still shook me terribly. As if things couldn't get worse, clouds had rolled in, darkening the sky, and in the distance the sound of thunder rumbled like the wolves.

Oddly, the wolves stopped, as if they had changed their minds about eating me. They turned their gazes back to dark passageway and sat down, wagging their tails.

"What do we have here, now?"

The voice was distinctly accented.

My curiosity grew as this new comer a flash of lighting illuminated him and he stepped out of the darkest shadows and into the faded light. His hair was shaggy and red, between his teeth sat a four leaf clover, and his eyes were elaborated by six tears painted onto the surface of his skin. However, his Irish accent was greatly contrasted by his green Japanese clothing and slippers. On his right breast, a dragon crest rested, probably the symbol of his employer. I remembered Meta Knight saying something about a group with a dragon as their symbol. Apparently they had been a part of the Famu ninja clan, Yamikage's clan, who had betrayed the GSA. Thus, their symbol became a black dragon after Yamikage rode one into the battle that determined his loyalty.

"Looks like a wee lassie... ah, ye pups are startin' make me hotheaded! Go now with ye, ye'r lookin' for me student, not me'self a date!" He cocked his head at me and smiled, "Eh, she looks a wee bit too young for me. Ye look a bit shaken up. Ye alright, now?"

I was too shocked to say anything and to shaky to nod. Suddenly he sunk into the ground and rose up again beside me. He towered over me.

"Ye look a wee bit pale, lassie. Forgive me, me pups took after ye. They're supposed to be findin' a friend of mine." He paused and rubbed his chin, "Come to think o' it... why would they be after ye? Hold on now, did you meet a young man in a mask? His right eye be the only thing that shows. It glows purple, the color of lilacs. He be a tad taller than me." He raised his hand to measure the height of his friend. I realized that he had to be talking about Anonymous. I was trying to decide whether or not I should tell him that I had seen Anonymous or not, but it seemed my look of recognition that came across my face was answer enough.

"So you have seen him lassie, have you? This is grand! How long ago did you see him?"

"I... uh... saw him a few minutes before your wolves came after me."

A look of relief washed over his face, once again highlighted by the flashes of light in the sky.

"Tis a good thing to hear he be fine. Now, let's go find ourselves some shelter, before this storm gives us a cold. Besides, it looks like ye be needin' some dry clothes, to be sure." He offered me his hand and I took it. Suddenly I felt the gound beneath me give way and I fell into a patch of darkness. I looked up at him in horror and to my distaste he was smiling gently at me. My heart sunk to my toes, I had just made a huge mistake.

...

Stranger stepped out from behind a tree. He had heard the sound of wolves in the distant. Believing it was wise to stop wallowing in his pain, he walked back to the tree hollow. He was about half way there when he sensed another presence.

"Anonymous..." he muttered to himself, turning around.

Sure enough, just as he had assumed, there stood Anonymous in the shadowcast moonlight. The shadows of treebranches danced on his gray mask, creating enchanting patterns on its surface. His one glowing purple eye stared back at him, apathetic as ever. The silent shinobi took a step forward and immediately Stranger placed his hand on an arrow protruding from his quiver.

"Not another step shinobi," Stranger hissed, "I know whom it is that you serve."

Anonymous stepped back, almost as if he was shocked, but showed no emotion on his face. With a flick of his wrist seventeen needles fanned from his hand.

"If you are here to assassinate me for the sake of your employer, I am sorry," Stranger growled, "For you will be sorely disappointed."

They rushed forward, colliding. Stranger's knife slid against the needles in Anonymous's hand, the metals exploding in a flash of light as lightning slashed across the gathering clouds. The Wanderer swung his other arm around, hoping to use the additional knife to his advantage. To his surprise, another seventeen needles slipped into the shinobi's free hand, totaling in thirty-four between both hands. How the shinobi managed to keep them secure in his hands, the Wanderer had not a clue. Though at this point, that was the least of his worries.

Stranger stood in an awkward position for a moment, with his right blade interlocked with Anonymous's left set of needles. Having swung around with his other blade, his spine was twisted to allow himself to see his opponent's face. Both of their blades were locked together, Anonymous used this to his advantage. The shinobi twisted his entire body in the air like a drill, in the process, holding the needles so that they were tightened around the two knives in Stranger's hands. The Wanderer felt a mighty jerk on his weapons and nearly lost hold of them. He watched as Anonymous landed with barely a sound back on the ground. Though as the shinobi's feet brushed the carpet of grass, he vanished, sinking into the ground.

Uneasily, Stranger took three steps back as he looked around at the shadows, searching for any sign of the shinobi. To his delight and dismay, the shadows of the clouds gathered over the moon. This forced Anonymous to climb out of the shadows, or else be lost in them. However, Anonymous was also a shinobi, making him extremely skilled at stalking.

Thunder errupted in the distance, shaking the ground beneath Stranger's boots. Lightning flashed behind him and he saw his shadow behind him, the very moment he felt the warmth of breath on his neck and a thrilling pain in his arms. Another vein of lightning rippled across the stormy sky. He couldn't move his arms and consequently his knives slid from his grip and thudded onto the ground, masked by the roaring cry of thunder. A rain drop fell on his face as he looked up at the sky, tickling his skin and tasting sweet in his dry mouth as his tongue extended greedily for it.

Light blinked again and he saw his shadow, eight needles skewered either arm evenly. They were placed in such precise location that they were in perfect symetry. Gradually, both arms went completely numb, yet he could still feel Anonymous's breath on his neck and the conflicting friction between their cloth skin where they happened to touch.

Once again the light challenged the darkness, and in their battle, Stranger watched as the needles in his arms seemed to magically be pulled from his arms. The heavens gave a great and wretched cry, pouring out a river of tears onto the dry earth below. In moments, the two rivals were soaked from the clouds' mourning.

Stranger slid to his knees as the masked shinobi walked out from behind him and presented himself triumphantly before the defeated Wanderer. He was willing to die now, so he sat, eyes closed, waiting for the shinobi's blade to slide across his throat.

He winced as the thunder clapped, knowing that it indeed had to be the end. However, his eyelids flashed red from the lightning outside and he opened them. Before him was a hand. His eyes trailed up the hand and he looked up at Anonymous in shock. The feeling had returned to his arms, just as the shinobi had planned, and the Wanderer reached up for the hand. Gently, the shinobi pulled him to his feet. The two walked away, Anonymous lending his shoulder to Stranger.

"Why," the Wanderer whispered, "Why are you helping me?"

As expected, the shinobi did not reply.

Slowly, they walked on. Eventually Stranger could see a small fire in the distance, glistening like a star on the horizon. Slowly, a cave formed around it. He could make out the shape of two people. He began to grow dizzy and stumbled, but did not fall, as Anonymous held him up.

The world around him grew darker and eventually, he could no longer move his feet. He stood in the rain and Anonymous looked at him in confusion. It was amazing how through his one eye one could read exactly what he was feeling.

Panic.

As his world became drenched in green, that is exactly how Stranger felt. Somehow, the poison of the hummingbird blade had entered him. Immediately, Stranger's glowing eyes narrowed toward Anonymous. The shinobi shook his head helplessly as the Wanderer, despite his current wounds, ripped his blades from Anonymous's hand. Slowly, his flesh faded from the rich tan to a dead gray as the locks of brown hair that escaped his hood washed white. His color now altered, his hand pulled up a blue-green mask that hid the lower half of his face from view.

"What are you doing here, Anonymous?" His voice came out cold as he addressed the shinobi.

Anonymous merely shrugged, turning to hide his disappointment from the assassin.

The one who once was Stranger was now Faceless, so his profile and entire manner had altered completely. Faceless was a demon created by some unknown force, embedded into the stone heart of Stranger. Now that he had the poison running through his veins, he was completely unaware of his previous life. Only as Stranger did the two lives collide. Though as Faceless, it was as though the demon awoke from drifting thoughts.

"We be on a mission for Kadir Kadri, Faceless," a familiar voice said.

"Ah, Yoshida Daisuke! Finally, someone I can get some answers from," Faceless muttered. "The details?"

"We were searching for a girl," Daisuke replied, sucking on the four leaf clover stem stuck between his teeth. "Though no worries, I got her. It was easy. Anonymous made it possible."

Anonymous, who had no idea about this "mission", looked to his mentor in shock. Though he was relieved when Daisuke winked at him.

Faceless couldn't help but notice.

"Do you have something wrong with your eye, Daisuke? Or is there something you're not telling me?"

Daisuke laughed, "What could I possibly keep from you, Faceless?"

Faceless's brows rose, "Nothing at all, Daisuke." He began making his way for the cave. "Let us get out of this blasted rain." When the three of them reached it, Faceless threw a disinterested glance to where Allison sat, tied up and asleep.

"What a sight for sore eyes," sighed Faceless. He sat down and helped himself to some of the soup that Daisuke had been cooking.

Anonymous sat down between Faceless and Allison, his eye closing frequently as he fought the urge to fall asleep.

Faceless turned and looked at him, "Are you not going to eat anything, shinobi?"

Anonymous gave him a weary look and shook his head. He stood, looked to Daisuke who nodded, and ran out of the cave.

Faceless watched him go, "Where's he off to?"

"To go assure that no one will be following us," Daisuke said softly. "That be the job of the shinobi. You wouldn't understand, to be sure."

...

"Man, they've been gone a long time," Rioku sighed worriedly, staring absentmindedly out the window. He and Jebediah had been discussing why fireflies come out at night and why they flashed their lights. Of course, Rioku automatically said it had to do with breeding, while Jebediah said it was some form of communication. What Rioku wanted to know was how Jebediah knew they flashed light in the first place. Though he never got an answer.

Somehow the conversation had sprouted up from the storm throwing its tantrum outside.

Jebediah sharply met his gaze, "Wait, what do you mean by _they_? Allison is right over-", he looked over at the couch where he expected Allison to be, sitting quietly with her legs tucked beneath her, "...there?"

"You're hopeless, Jeb. She left hours ago." Rioku displayed a sly smile, "They fancy each other."

"I couldn't tell," Jeb replied genuinely. "How do you catch onto things like this? Oh wait, you can see! Sometimes I imagine everyone is blind, so I suppose that adds to the confusion, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Rioku grunted. He leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head, "I'm sure they're sitting in a cave all snuggled up together under Stranger's cloak, keeping warm, lips interlocked, making lo-."

"-Has anyone ever told you, you talk too much?" Jebediah said hastily.

"Hey, no need to be unpleasant. I think someone needs a reality check," Rioku winked, despite the fact his other eye sat beneath an eyepatch and his friend could not see him do so anyways. "I'd be much oblidged to teach you the basics, but I'm tired. I think I might go to bed."

Jebediah shook his head, "Go ahead, I'm gonna wait for their return."

"They probably won't. They're probably happy in a cave together, glad to be away from us," Rioku said smiling, closing his eyes as he reclined on his branch.

Suddenly, Rioku perked up and drew out a shuriken. "Lay low, Jeb," he hissed. "We're not alone."

He was right. Slowly, out of the shadows of the house, the familiar form of Anonymous crept out of the shadows. He lifted his hand and a giant shuriken materialized before them. He arched his arm and threw it forth, sending it gliding toward the blonde shinobi.

"You've gotten slower," Rioku laughed, catching it in his hand.

The look of shock that washed over the one-eyed shinobi caught Rioku off guard. He shouldn't be shocked. Anonymous wasn't one to be reckless, he was one to plan out every move precisely and to take action with confidence. This was unlike him.

There was another flash of light and Rioku saw something red splash onto a painting, as three stripes flew across Anonymous's chest. The gray-clad shinobi stumbled forward a bit and fell, only to reveal- 

"Anonymous?" Rioku stared at him in confusion, reverting his gaze back and forth from the one on the ground and the one that stood before him unscathed. Slowly, the one wounded by the other shifted into a snake and slithered hastily away, leaving a waving path of blood from its wounds.

Anonymous, the true shinobi, stepped forward. He lifted his hand and thrust his senbon, the needles, toward Rioku, deliberately missing the blonde shinobi.

Rioku looked at him in shock after counting the thirty-four needles that outlined his shadow.

"W-what are you doing?"

Anonymous stepped forward, unarmed. The light flooded through the windows and Anonymous vanished, when it came again, he stood with his face but three inches from Rioku's.

"Whoa," Rioku muttered.

Anonymous thrust the blonde shinobi against the wall, pressing his forearm against his throat and held up his free hand, as though preparing to slap the daylights out of Rioku. However, as the masked shinobi's hand fell, it did not reach Rioku's face. Instead, it fell on Anonymous's, covering the lower half of his face.

"Oh no..." Rioku whispered, knowing instantly what Anonymous was trying to communicate. "Are you positive...?"

The one-eyed shinobi nodded slowly, releasing his intense grip on Rioku. He waved his hand over the senbon, running his fingers over them as they gathered them up in a single swipe. He vanished in a whisp of smoke and reappeared, standing upon the map that was spread over Stranger's table. He flicked his wrist and lept into the air, going into a pool of black he had created in the ceiling. This time, he did not return.

"Has he come yet?" Jebediah asked, facing the door.

"No, I was just hearing things," Rioku snorted. "You seriously just missed everything that happened?"

Jebediah nodded, "Whoever it was, I couldn't sense them at all. Though I did manage to sense that snake."

"Wow, aren't you incredible," Rioku rolled his eye. "Look, someone poisoned Stranger. He's Faceless now. I'm pretty certain that Allison is with them."

"Well, isn't that brilliant? So, are we going after them?"

"Of course we are!" Rioku answered heatedly, leaping off of the branch, enraged that his friend would even ask such a question.

"Any idea where they're heading?"

Rioku, who hadn't even thought of that, straightened up and drew his brows together in concentration. His gaze was instinctively shifted to the map on Stranger's table. As he approached it openmindedly, he found what it was that Anonymous had left behind.

A needle.

That needle rested over a place on the map, a place Rioku wasn't too eager to return to.

"The Second Fortress, they're headed for the Second Fortress," Rioku said softly, a portion of his confidence had left him when he read the place on the map.

"Well, we better get going," Jebediah said, standing up. "That is, if we plan to get there before they do. Otherwise we'll be dealing with more than just Faceless... we'll be dealing with Anonymous, the Shinobi Twelve, and Kadri. I honestly don't feel like dealing with him again."

"I imagine we will need a ship," Rioku muttered.

"We can take mine," Jebediah said, smiling.

"Or, you take mine."

The two turned and immediately recognized the sharp pair of eyes that peered back at them.

"Edge?"

...

I felt dizzy. I lifted my head slowly, opening my eyes but everything was blurry so I leaned my head back and closed them again. Once more, I opened them and found Anonymous staring down at me. My hand instinctively went up and slapped him and he jerked back in shock, rubbing his cheek. I sat up on the bed and pulled myself to a corner.

"What are you doing here?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he approached me, with a hand extended.

"Don't touch me! Got it! I'll rip off your mask!"

My threat was real enough, but he pressed forth nonetheless. His hand came to my face, his naked fingertips brushing gently against my cheek. I froze, unable to move. I was captivated by his eye. I could see my reflection in his apathetic gaze as his hand sid down my neck, over my shoulder, past my breast, to my waist, my hip, and ran down my leg to the chains on my ankles. He leaned forward, his face just inches from mine so that I could feel the warmth of his breath on my lips.

I was confused.

His free hand kept him balanced, perched upon the bedside, as the other unlocked the chains, freeing me. Despite such freedom, I could not move. I was lost in that one eye that stared down at me. Perhaps it was because it so contrasted the simplicity of his mask. The lush purple of his glowing iris surrounded by the dull grays of his attire, maybe that was why I could not break eye contact. Or perhaps it was the cat-like slit of his pupil that seemed to cut deep into my soul as he stared, unblinkingly, at me.

Slowly, he lowered his face to my ear and exhaled heavily, as if he had been carrying a heavy burden. Somehow, it sounded like he breathed the word, "...si...le...nce..." He pulled back and turned, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. For a long while we were at an impasse, as neither of us moved. Then, his hand came up and motioned me to follow, so I did.

I took in my surroundings, we were on a small ship. We entered what looked like the control deck when I saw someone familiar. His back was to me, but his cloaked figure was enough for me.

"Stra-!"

Anonymous's hand clamped over mine and I looked up at him in shock. His eye was narrowed. He didn't look happy with me. His finger reached up and pressed over my lips, telling me to be quiet.

The one I thought was Stranger turned around, revealling he was not who I thought he was.

"So, she's finally awake."

Oddly, his voice sounded exactly like Stranger's, however it was a slight deeper and raspier. He reclined back, flicking off his hood and revealling a head full of white hair, cut in the same style as Stranger's. I was seriously getting weirded out.

Daisuke stretched, punching the button for autopilot.

"Hey Faceless, why don't you go get us some grub?"

Faceless nodded, "Why not." He stood, paused as he passed me and looked me over.

"Make sure you keep an eye on her, Anonymous. She looks like a tough one."

He snickered and walked through the doors, leaving us all to stare after him.

"Allison-san," Daisuke said.

I turned and found him standing infront of me.

"You were right, that man be none other than your wandering friend, Stranger, to be sure," he said softly. "However, in his state, he does not know it. He cannot. So refer to him as Faceless far now, alright?"

I nodded, "On the other hand, where are you taking me?"

"To the Second Fortress," he answered.

The Second Fortress. I didn't like the looks of how things were. Stranger was with me, but he was trapped inside that demon. Rioku and Jebediah probably had no idea where we were. Daisuke seemed frustrated too and Anonymous, as always, despite his closeness, seemed so distant.

...

**Sweey****: Well, that's it for now. I like how this chapter turned out... and look at the mess my characters are in now... even the "bad" guys don't like it. Anyways, Anonymous is playing his role to my satisfation. But who is that shape-shifter...? Hmm... guess we'll find out later... **

**Soooooooo, what did you think of THAT? I mean, come on, Anonymous and Stranger's fight (and the one with Rioku and Anonymous) was pretty friggin' wickedpudding, if I don't say so myself... MUAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH! Man, this story is going along splendidly! ^^ REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVIEW! **


	10. Whispered Words

**Sweey:**** Danku very much for the kind reviews. Lucky you you you, cuz you guyz made me wanna write some more! WOO HOO for YOU! So, I am aware of my stupid mistakes in the last chapter... typos more like... I was being distracted by Kotaro's hansom wings... *-* He so pretty... I want to touch. Too bad he's not real. Dude, I'd date so many of the guys in my imagination, unfortunately they're stuck there... DANG IT! Anyways, back to this story. I like how it's going. :3 So, here we will be switching from Allison's PoV to third person, following Edge, Jeb, and Rioku as they try to beat Dai, Anon, and Faceless to the Second Fortress on a random planet... which has a name I'm gonna make up in like... ten sentences from the first. lol shall we continue? **

**"You see, I am simply one hell of a butler..." **

**Kudos for anyone who knows who says that in a particular anime. **

**On a side note, thank you new reviewer silentperson! You burst me into action again! ;D That takes some doing! So please, enjoy this next chapter! **

**So much for keeping this story under ten chaps! FORGIVE ME CRISPY! I'M SURE YOU'RE DYING FROM IRRITATION! XD haha I think I'm just writing this story because I can, so who knows how long it will last. In facto, I have NO idea who that shape-shifter is... then again, I had no idea who Anonymous was either when I first wrote him, so I guess this may prove interestante... (brushin' up on me spanish... which btw I have a B in that class now! :D MUAH) NOW! I BID THEE ADO! GO READ! **

**~Chapter 10 Whispered Words~**

I had been sent back to my room. I was alone now. Daisuke was on the control deck, I assumed he was driving the ship. I hoped he was. Faceless and Anonymous had taken the scraps left over from our meal of veggies and pasta, topped with a lovely pile of shrimp. It was a delecious meal. The fear from being captured had made me incredibly hungry. Faceless had watched me a moment with some interest, however he had gotten in some random conversation with Daisuke about something called a pennywhistle.

"It is related to the recorder, is it not?" He had asked the Iwerdish shinobi.

"It is. That and the piccolo."

"I see. So it is a perfect balance between enragingly irritating and impossibly mediocre."

"I suppose you could put it that way, to be sure."

I gradually came to realize that they were discussing an instrument. This one I had never heard of before. Probably because I don't listen to Irish music very often. It had a weird name. Then again, what instrument doesn't have a wierd name. I mean: piano, obo, trumpet, violin. They are all weird, but I suppose their unique names each stand for their unique sounds.

"So, what is a pennywhistle and why is it called that?"

Faceless, seeming irritated that I had butted into their conversation, brushed off such information with a sarcastic remark, "Could it be that it sounds like a whistle and only costs a penny?"

I scowled, "How was I supposed to know that?"

"I thought you might know," Faceless muttered, "Seeing as you know everything."

This remark had been said once or twice to me since I had sat at the table with them. I had muttered a fact I knew about something Faceless had said, "To where are we going?"

Of course, he was not talking about the Second Fortress. It had, in fact, been a far deeper question. One that involved the inferno and the heavens. I had no idea he was capable of such thoughts in his current state. Though, it was apparent that Stranger's mind was still the dominant force, how ever weak it was. How did I know this?

He still spoke to me in riddles.

"My dear, if you are not a part of the conversation, do not enter it. 'else you may find yourself in a corner with not a space between my blade and your heart. Think twice before you act, girl."

For a moment I thought he was serious, but a quick glance to Anonymous made me realize that his words weren't as they seemed. I thought them over for a long time and defined their true meaning.

"My dear, you are not allowed to talk to me unless I address you, so don't. Otherwise I will tear you to pieces with my words, crushing your emotions into tiny shreds. So do not dare do that again."

The threat was real enough, of course, he had to make it seem all the more bitter with his sharp glare. He looked away from me and that was the end of the meal, for afterwords everyone else stood to go about their business.

Before he went to help Faceless cleaning after the meal, Anonymous walked me to my cell -a comfortable room with plush furniture- and locked me in. I could hear Faceless's footfalls on the metal floor of the ship as he walked back and forth with dishes and the whooshing sound his cape made when he changed direction. I could hear it crinkling as the draft of wind created by his frisk walking pace.

I sighed, rolling over on the bed. As I laid there listening to Faceless's footsteps and Anonymous's silent pattering behind him, I couldn't help but wonder how it all came to this. I had no idea what would happen when we got to the Second Fortress. Stranger was with me, however he was lost in his own battle inside his own mind. Daisuke and Anonymous, no matter how nice they seemed, were still my enemies.

Before I knew it, sleep interrupted my thinking as the purr of the engine lulled my eyes shut.

The lock turned and the door creeped open, as did my eyes. However, I heard no one enter.

The door shut.

I turned and looked out into the darkness. Gradually, the gray form of Anonymous shaped into my vision and, like a star, his one eye glowed, staring down at me vacant of any emotion. It was almost frightening looking up at him as he stared down at me as though I was nothing but a ripple in the air he breathed.

I sat up and pulled me knees up, allowing my chin a place to rest. I continued staring at him, unsure of what might occur if I were to break eye contact. He was the enemy. I knew him not. For all I knew he came in here to molest me or murder me in my sleep. Perhaps he simply wanted to stare at me.

That was not it. He slowly came down to his knees beside my bed and held out his hand, his palm exposed as he offered it to me. Slowly, I took it and he held it. His hands were so cold. I could feel the warmth of mine heating his. He was ever so distant as he stared back at me, like a ghost still lost in the world of the living.

He pulled my hand up to his cheek, to the cloth skin that enveloped his face in gray. He ran my hand over the single black tear that ran under his eye. I felt as though he was trying to tell me something. However, his inability to speak was proving to be a problem.

Realizing I did not understand what he was trying to communicate, his free hand shot quickly for the zipper that attatched his mask to the black cloth that encased his neck. Before I knew it I could feel the skin beneath it. He encouraged my hand to explore. I found long strips of fleshy roughness that so greatly contrasted the smoothness of his skin. I slowly began to realize what it was I was feeling.

Scars.

Why he wanted me to feel them I was not sure. Though the moment my expression changed with realization he pulled my hand away hastily and secured has cloth mask. He pulled back and stood straight-backed before me. I slowly began to understand what it was he was trying to say.

He had been scared once too, just like I am now. In a sense, I felt he was appologizing for his bold actions the night before when he undid my shackles. He could not speak, so touch was the second best form of communication. I had learned from a previous teacher that eighty percent of our communication was through body language. Perhaps that was why I could understand him.

My teachers, man, if only they knew what I'd gone through. Maybe then they'd stop giving me homework!

Then again, experience is the best teacher.

I looked up at Anonymous, but he was gone again.

I looked at the door and there he was, standing there in his ghost-like way. His mysterious manner was beginning to gnaw at my curiosity. I wanted to know how he got those scars. More than that, I wanted to see his face.

He jerked his head for me to follow him, so I did.

He lead me down a small hallway to another door. I realized then that the ship was far larger than I thought it was. It was not even close to the size of the halberd, but it was comfortably about one-fourth of the size. It had its own escape pods. When I say had, I mean _had_. They were gone, all but one remained.

I bumped into him, not realizing he had stopped. He looked at me, a little startled. Anonymous recovered and opened the door to a small library. Once again, I was confused. He lead me gently to a chair and had me sit down before he ran off to do something I was too tired to take notice of. I was comfortable enough, the chair was plush and made of red fabric. It seemed that no matter where I was, there was always at least one plush chair made of red fabric. I thought this as I recalled Stranger's own chair back at his home in the forest. Life seemed so peaceful back then. Three or four days spent in the forest and I had nearly forgotten all that had happened before I came to study under Stranger. I threw my gaze to a nearby clock. After a few frustrated minutes of trying to read it, I finally managed to learn that it was precisely 1:37 in the morning.

That late in the night, or rather, that early in the morning. I placed a hand on my temple and drew a circle around it, trying to releave the headache that had formed there. I was thinking more and more like Stranger without even realizing it.

In prime of that, I muttered, "Before I know it I'll start talking without any contractions!"

Anonymous looked back at me out of the corner of his eye from where he stood looking at a bunch of books on the shelves. Seeing as we were in a library, it was only natural.

I dozed off around 1:52 when he came back and sat infront of me. I was startled by the hungry look in his eye, but then he handed me something. It was hard, squarish, and had paper inside. Eventually I discerned that the foreign artifact in my hands was in fact a book. Only natural, seeing as we were in a library.

I looked back down at him, no doubt with a puzzled look on my face. His gaze met mine and he gave the book a gentle nudge, pushing it furthur onto my lap.

I felt my head tilt to the side. This ninja, who had skillfully plotted my demise, was asking me to read to him. Not only that, he was almost childlike in his request. However, his choice of reading was not at all childlike. It was a book of poetry, all in flowing manuscript. Some were incredibly dark, others humorous, and several were stained with my tears as I read aloud to him.

"_Mourning forever and ever on and on. _

_The night shall never wake with dawn. _

_A heart beat of a heart of stone. _

_A quiet mutter, a sickening groan. _

_Here ever on and on,_

_I wander to no end. _

_No final destination,_

_No single explanation,_

_To this wanderlust._

_Shall I find a place to rest my head,_

_With no home, no love, no bed?_

_I am doomed to continue, _

_To carry through, with what I must do. _

_I feel as though I am elsewhere,_

_Another heart I share. _

_What is this inside me?_

_What must I do to break free? _

_I have yet to find the answer_."

I paused after reciting such questioning poetry. I felt some sort of connection click in my mind. However, I continued to read another.

"_Lost,_

_Eternally,_

_Terribly,_

_My only company,_

_Ever watching_

_Demons of old._

_I sit in this cage._

_Enraged."_

I shivered, running my eyes over the poem once more. Slowly I realized the hidden message, "Let me die", written with each of the first letters of each stanza. I looked to Anonymous and he urged me to continue reading.

"_Once upon a firefly I could believe,_

_Until I was forced to take my leave._

_With no place to roam and be free,_

_I climbed to the highest branches of a tree._

_There I could see a land beyond reality._

_Where there was birth, but no fatality_."

Another read:

"_There's a great old tree in the middle of a hill,_

_Next to the hive of a bee on the way to a mill._

_That great old oak would never bend in the wind._

_And those winds still try and choke and send,_

_That great old tree to whither and sway._

_Then came the very day,_

_When the earth did shake,_

_That day the tree did break. _

_Now this is what the once great tree did say:_

_"If the ground beneath you is firm and your roots deep,_

_Then your position you shall keep. _

_But should the ground beneath you shift and shake, _

_Then you shall surely break.""_

I had finished the book. As I flipped over one more page, I found not a poem, but a letter sewn inside to the back cover of the book.

"_October 5th, The Year of the Unknown."_

Odd, I never heard of such a year. I shrugged and continued to read.

"_Elshuay, tell me what I must do and I will do it without hesitation! My life... it has been thrashed into a million pieces, to the point I can no longer identify the shards. My own kin do not care whether I should die or live. They know not who I am. They are luke-warm to this tattered and lonely heart. They can never hope to see the dedication, the detail, the perfection, the toil in my work. They only see my flaws. I am falling apart, both physically and mentally. My body is at constant war with my soul and my mind is ever battling with the demons constantly hunting me. I am coming to a gradual understanding of the consequences that come with being who I am. There is nothing I can do to restore my actions in the past... there are already so many countless acts that I wish I could take back... but perhaps if I did I would not be the same person I am today. My mistakes define who I am, I only wish I could see that as a good thing. _

_Though I am still young, I feel I have no time. My future is already upon me and the final steps of my childhood will be taken and forever a thing of the past. _

_Since that day of my failure, I have never been able to breathe quite the same. My heart is heavy and doubt ever gnaws at my soul and mind. No comfort can I find here in this dark place... and what is offered I do not deserve... therefore it cannot be accepted. My illness, as I said in previous entries, has consumed my very being, bit by bit. I am becoming someone whom I can no longer identify myself as... I am a stranger to myself and to those around me. I am selfish, bitter, and angry, toward everyone and every situation. Not always am I open in such emotions... sometimes I have none at all._

_I am becomming fatigued. I do not eat, I do not drink, I am robbed of sleep for fear if I close my eyes I will enter into the ruinous nightmares of my past. I have lost inspiration to continue... I fear that may prove fatal for me. My world is a gyration, full of poignant failure, dark days, and these demons that constantly follow me. I feel like a broken story, forgotten and distorted by the lips reciting the literature of my life. I feel tenuous and alone unless I am in the darkness of night, walking with my wanderlust. This entry is nothing but an incoherent jumple of thoughts now... a lackadaisical misunderstanding in my mind. _

_I want to be left alone. My shame, I feel, is closing in around me as the days draw closer and closer since that day of confusion. I seem to write only at times such as this... when I am weary and ready to give in -to die. I was not prepared for any of this... none of it! Nor did I ask for this! If they would only take three steps back soI may take three steps forward, I could shed this terrible situation off of my shoulders. It seems apparent that they refuse to, so I must step up to the frontlines, blades in hand, prepared for the final plunge. I must drop my dearest belongings -dreams, hopes, and my future as a person- to keep it from slowing me down, from weighing me down to my death. Now, like an archer, I must lift my bow, take my aim, and pray it hits the target... but like every good archer, I know that without practice, there is little hope for success; however, there is always luck! _

_I want to be remembered by those I love. However, such a desire seems so foolish now. They are all dead. I want to escape from this cruel, heartless reality I have been forced to live through. I want to be rid of this putrid, hate-filled, laberynth of lies, and selfish world I am forced to serve. Can they not open their eyes and see I want nothing to do with them and their plans? They must be deaf... or maybe their hearts are dead. Through my life, I plan to help Elshuay restore them. I am weary now; so I shall place my quill in its rightful place and retire. Pray that this night... will be the night that the terrors of my imagination cease. _

_Sincerely,"_

"Altan Dawn...?" I read the name in confusion. That was Stranger's name.

I flipped through the book but found nothing that furthur cured my curious investigation. I looked down as my legs began to tingle from sitting in the same position for so long. Anonymous had fallen asleep, his arms cushioning his head on my legs. His breathing was even and soothing. I was unsure of what I should do. Waking him may prove problematic.

"So he fell asleep on ye, did he now?"

I looked up and found Daisuke leaning in the door way.

"Don't be worrying now, the ship's on auto pilot," he said, smiling.

I nodded, "I wasn't worried."

"Sure ye weren't, but ye told me with the look on ye'r face," he said softly. Daisuke's gaze fell to Anonymous, "He's been through a lot o' hell, so he has. He would be so young now, only just a few months since his seventeenth birthday."

I dropped my gaze onto the white hair of Anonymous.

"He's only a few years older than I am," I whispered.

"Aye, though he seems to be seven years older than he really be," he sighed. "I suppose trying times are those that age us the quickest. Faster than time in my opinion." He looked at me from Anonymous, "He's taking a liking to ye."

I blushed.

"I wouldn't be so rash to say he likes ye that much, but he likes ye, lassie. No doubt he is jealous of ye'r voice," Daisuke sighed.

"Jealous?"

"Aye, jealous," he said, pushing himself from the wall so he was standing on his own. "Like I said before, lassie, he's been through hell and back again, literally."

"So, what happened to him?"

"He'll answer that question when he sees the time as right. It's not my place to shed light on secrets I've not been permitted speakin' of."

I nodded, frowning slightly but respecting Daisuke for his curtosy toward his friend.

"I will tell ye this though, at one time he could speak. In fact, he still can; however, ye and I cannot hear him with our ears alone."

I looked up, puzzled with what he said to me.

"In time ye will understand, lassie. Oh, and by the way," he turned and looked at me from the series of books he was looking at, "I appreciate ye'r reading to him. I would do it me'self, but I don't be havin' the time. He loves books, that's why I did have a library installed on the ship o' the Shinobi Twelve. It cost more than a couple o' pennies, but it was well worth more than a pot o' gold in me mind. I am certain the lad has read every one of these twice or more."

I smiled, "You're a kind and gentle soul, Daisuke."

He laughed softly, "Ye act as if ye know me well enough say a thing like that!" He paused and frowned uncharacteristically, "Lassie, do care for him while ye are here. He needs such attention and I would fear I have been absent to long to take on such a responsibility. Dealing with all this trouble is really getting to me."

"Daisuke, I will. May I ask though, why I am here?"

"Twas for ye'r safety, lassie," he whispered. "If Faceless had learned that I helped ye, I swear it to ye, we would all be dead now, to be sure."

He sat down on the floor beside me, leaning his head back on the arm of the chair, "Faceless be an uncanny and troubled soul. Do not take him lightly. He seems to be levelheaded, but I assure ye, he'll kill you on the spot if he sees ye as a threat."

"That sounds nothing like him," I whispered.

Daisuke stood up and spoke in a stern voice, "Ye've got to get that Wanderer out of ye'r head, now! He is trapped inside that demon's soul. There be nothing ye can do to change that. For now, ye must wait until the poison has left his blood and pray he does not get another dose by the time we arrive to the Second Fortress, or when we do. It be like a dark medicine, each dose overlaps the last and he only gets further and further away from being human and closer to becoming a demon."

"How can we stop this? It all seems so hopeless," I muttered.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to Daisuke's eyes. It was then I noticed that his left eye was adorned with a slitted pupil like Anonymous and his right also glowed slightly. They were so very blue, like the richest sky of a morning bright. The six black tears that elaborated his eyes never ceased to create curiosity within me. Anonymous also had one on his mask and I had to wonder if somehow the two were connected.

There was a hint of sadness in his voice, as though remembering something in his past he regretted, "Nothing is ever hopeless, lassie. It be only what ye do with the situation that determines the outcome or not. If ye do what ye'r heart says is right, then that is that, no matter the consequence. I should know, I have been in such situations all my long life."

He pulled back and straightened his back, sticking a hand in his pocket and another on his chin. "I do be thinking it might be wise for ye two to go to bed. I imagine ye'r in Anonymous's bed. I'll make him a pallet on the floor for him to sleep on." He bent over and scooped the masked shinobi off of the floor like a child and carried him back to his room. As I walked behind him, I found myself staring at the masked shinobi that rested limp in the red headed ninja. I swore I saw his eye open and meet my gaze, however briefly. So much so, I questioned if it had even happened.

Daisuke stopped and looked back at me from over his shoulder.

"Give me a moment, I need to set him on the bed so I can make up the pallet, if you don't be mindin'."

"No problem," I replied. I still was a little unsure about talking so casually with him. He was, in fact, the one who had dragged me into this mess, whether he orginally had planned to only be kind to me and help me out of the storm.

He finished making the pallet on the floor with various blankets from a trunk at the foot of Anonymous's bed. By this time, Anonymous had awoken and sat up drowsily before realizing where he was. He stood to his feet and shook his head as though clearing stray thoughts from his mind. I saw him look at Daisuke and for a moment the two were caught in one another's gaze. In my observation I saw Anonymous's jaw drop beneath his mask as if he had forgotten he could not speak. I had to wonder what it was he was planning on saying.

"Ye'r welcome, Anon," Daisuke said smiling.

Anonymous dipped his head slowly.

"Now ye two get some rest," Daisuke said soflty, watching as Anonymous lowered himself on the floor of blankets and I followed his example, crawling under the quilts that layered the bed loaned to me.

The light flickered off and Daisuke smiled, the hallway light illuminating the right side of his smiling face. "See yous both in the morn."

With that, he closed the door and darkness over came the room. I glanced over at Anonymous, waiting until I could see the faded silhouette of his body laying on the floor as he slowly drifted to sleep. I rolled over, rubbing my face in the pillow. It smelled sweet.

...

"So, I never got the chance to ask, but why are you hear Edge?"

Edge looked over his shoulder at Rioku and smirked, "How well do you know my master?"

Rioku drew his brows together, jigging his head to the side, looking a might taken back by the young shadow's remark.

"I know him," he paused and swallowed, "Well enough." He shook his head in exasperation, "That still didn't answer my question."

"Stranger sent him a letter a few months ago. Apparently, a girl named..." he paused as the name escaped him.

Jebediah reminded him, "Allison."

"Right, that was her name," Edge muttered. He sat up a little straighter, loosing his focus. A quick pinch on his shoulder from a certain shinobi reminded him. He glared at Rioku then rubbed his shoulder looking annoyed, "Stranger requested that we Amasi aid him in this so that she may be introduced to our ways. So that she would not be caught off guard if she met one in her travels and so she would know what to do when facing one."

Rioku, once again appeared taken back, "There is hardly any reason for that. The number of Dark Amasi left is nearly exhausted! I mean, why would he really want you to come?"

"Maybe," Jebediah started soflty, "Maybe in the back of his mind, Stranger knew that something like this was going to happen."

"There is that," Edge said, "That is incredibly possible, knowing Stranger. He has a great sense of instinct that he follows. As a Wanderer, that is only natural."

"It is called wanderlust," Rioku said in a soft voice. He looked up into the stars that stretched out before them, "And without his help, this mission to rescue them will be no easy task." His eye widened as he came to a realization. He turned to the others, "Meta Knight is not to hear of this, understood?" His voice was unwavering and demanded obedience alone.

"Since when did you become the figure of leadership around here?"

Rioku bit his bottom lip and looked at the culprit.

"Someone has to Edge. Seeing as I am older than you and only half blind, I naturally took it as my responsibility."

Edge, who wasn't about to argue, shrugged in reply.

Rioku sighed heavily, "Who knows what will happen if we fail. The result could be devestating."

"You are right, Shenkai Rioku. Though I do not think it wise to leave you alone on such a matter as this."

Rioku turned slowly toward the voice, falling to the floor in a hasty bow.

"Anduin-sama! I was not aware that you were here! Forgive me, as a ninja I should have been the first to know this!"

...

**Sweey:**** Gonna break off this party here for now. Think I might go do some drawing... or maybe I'll go edit Frenemies and post another chap of that too. Man, I'm so tired! XD haha Not tired, exhausted! :) Well, please review my friends! It really encourages me and, for your benefit, it makes me want to update my stories faster! ^^ Later gators! **


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